Until Your Heart Stops Beating
by Bloom Purple Rose
Summary: Rosaline has lied in hiding since the breakout of the virus. Now she's been found and Bromley knows her secret that could prove useful to him. For now she's more valuable alive then dead, but what happens when that's not the case anymore? Edward/OFC
1. Chapter 1

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

I could feel my wrists chaffing from the metal cuffs that restrained my arms behind my back. It had been nearly an hour now since they had, quite literally, been slapped on me. My feet hurt too from being forced to walk all the way to where they were taking me. These things didn't tire as we did. They weren't human anymore.

"Do you have anything to say, Miss Carter?" I ignored the voice for a moment and continued to look around the large meeting room I had been brought to. I had recognized the building as the Bromley Marks as soon as we had arrived. I had only ever seen it once and it was from a photograph. I didn't dare step foot into a city such as this. It was too easy to get caught in.

When we had gotten to the building the soldiers had quickly guided me through the long hallways and up the many flights of stairs. They did, however, make sure I passed by and got a good look at the main 'harvesting' facility. Several thousand humans all line up in neat rows and columns.

It made me sick…and sad to think of all the people in those contraptions, having the life sucked right out of them until there was nothing left but skin and bones. That's all we were to them now; a food source.

"Miss Carter." The voice called out to me again and I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as I tried to think of what I was going to do. I really didn't care if they were getting irritated by actions. There was nothing they could do to me except end my life and I knew they wouldn't. They couldn't. I was too valuable to them at the moment.

I look back at the man across the room, standing at the other end of the long dark table. The other seats were filled with other important men; Army generals, senators, doctors, etc. Each one of them stared back at me with their glowing golden eyes.

"Are the cuffs really necessary?" I ask softly, shrugging my shoulders a little. I saw no point in having my arms tied together. They were stronger and faster then me and immortal. What could I possibly do to them? What threat did I pose? And besides, I wasn't planning on trying to pick a fight.

"Of course not." Charles Bromley, owner of Bromley Marks, gave a small laugh and nodded his head to the soldiers at my sides, "Gentlemen, if you'd please?"

The soldiers reluctantly removed the cuffs and took a step back, remaining on guard. So I wasn't completely 'non-threatening'. I had some moves and the soldiers at my sides had witnessed them first hand when they had come to retrieve me. I knew I couldn't have escaped, but that didn't mean I was going down without a fight.

I look around the table at the men sitting there, watching me carefully. It bugged me a little. It wasn't because they were all vampires and the country was suffering from a blood shortage, but the fact that anyone staring at me the way they were made me uncomfortable.

"With the way everyone is staring at me I'd swear I had a bomb strapped to my chest." I mumbled out and subconsciously rubbed one of my aching red wrists. I looked back at Charles, who had given another polite laugh.

"We're not going to hurt you." Charles speaks up after a long moment. I give my own little sarcastic laugh.

"I seriously doubt that." I counter immediately. I had been around long enough to know that whenever someone like Charles Bromley said they weren't going to hurt you it meant the opposite. He might not hurt me now or even next week, but at some point he was going to. I know he would.

"Do you know why we've brought you here?" Charles asks and moves around the table. He walks closer to me, hands in his suit pockets.

"No." I shake my head and keep my eyes on him, waiting for him to stop, but he continues on his stroll. He walks around me slowly, his eyes burning a hole in me.

"You're special." Charles stops beside me and leans back on the table. I chew on the inside of my lip. My breathing was slow and I was trying to keep myself steady, but I was scared and I knew he could just smell it.

"How so?" I ask slowly, trying to act ignorant. Charles's polite smile falls and his eyes turn hard.

"Do not play games with me Miss Carter. You won't win." Charles stands up straight and fixes his suit jacket, "Have you ever been bitten?"

"…yes." I answer carefully. I didn't like where this 'meeting' was going. I had figured that he knew about me, about my _defect_, but I had really hoped he didn't.

"And yet you haven't changed into one of us." Charles surmises and narrows his eyes at me. He shakes his head subconsciously and then takes a deep breath of air he doesn't need, "Why?"

I stare at him dumbfound. I was stuck, not by the actual question, but by whether or not he really wanted me to answer. I look around the room as I debate with myself and then land my eyes back on him.

"I don't know…" My reply sounds more like a question, but I couldn't help it. I was nervous and he was in no way making me feel safer then when I had been cuffed.

"We will soon find out." Charles's face lights up with a smug smirk as he rocks back and forth on his heels, "Doctor Caruso!"

A man sitting in one of the chairs around the table jumps slightly and looks towards Charles.

"Yes sir?"

"Would you mind escorting Miss Carter to her accommodations?" Charles's eyes never leave me as he asks his question. I spot the doctor stand from his seat and mumble something, but can't make out what it is, "I'll be seeing you very soon Miss Carter."

Doctor Caruso walks to my side and nods his head to Charles. He looks at me, expecting me to walk away first.

"You're leading because I don't know where I'm going in this place...Doctor Caruso." I snap softly at him and turn away from Charles. Caruso looks back at Charles again, his eyes asking a question.

"She won't be any trouble. Now leave." Charles barks and turns around to the rest of the men sitting around the long table. I look to Caruso and give a sarcastic smile.

"Yeah, I won't be any trouble." I mock softly and wave a hand in front of me, trying to get him to start walking. He gives me an uneasy look and then takes off towards the doors of the room. I follow behind him, trying to keep up with his pace.

We walk down the halls and an ominous glow catches my eye. I follow it, despite Doctor Caruso calling out to me. I continue to follow the glow and stop dead at the window in the wall.

"Until your heart stops beating…" I whisper softly as I stare at each of the unconscious humans, wasting away in the vampires harvesting contraptions. That's all we had left. Once our hearts stopped beating there would be no more blood and no more blood made us disposable like a napkin.

I look to Caruso, who had walked up beside me and shake my head.

"What happens when you run out?" I ask rhetorically and turn back to the window. I clench my jaw and shake my head again, "Can vampires starve?"


	2. Chapter 2

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

"Good morning everyone." A man wearing a dark grey suit and a top hat greets as he sets his briefcase down on one of the many lab tables. He removes his suit jacket and replaces it with the plain white lab coat he was used to wearing day after day.

Several replies float back to him from the other scientists and assistants around the laboratory.

"Morning Edward." Doctor Chris Caruso replies and looks up from the microscope in front of him. He looks over to his long time friend with a confound expression plaguing his face, "Edward? Would you come here and have a look at this?"

He waves Edward over and moves aside from the microscope, scratching something down on a piece of paper. Edward watches him fill out the report and then shoves his hands into his coat pockets, walking over before the microscope. Chris nods his head to the scope and brushes a hand over his chin in anticipation.

"Go on. Have a look." Chris encourages and goes back to writing. Edward gives his friend one last glance and looks into the microscope, unaware of what Chris had seen mere moments before.

After a moment of fiddling with the strength of the magnification Edward lifts his golden gaze. He looks to his friend and shakes his head, unsure of what he was supposed to have seen in the blood.

"It's normal human blood." Edward announces simply. Chris raises a finger with a small anxious look and picks up a vial of blood along with a dropper.

"That's human blood and this," He drains the vial of a little blood and leans closer to the microscope. He looks at the dropper and then lifts it over the lens on the microscope plate, "This is infected blood."

Chris lets a single drop of blood fall into the red dot already on the lens. Edward looks wearily at his friend, his fangs dangling out from under his upper lip. He couldn't see the point of his friend's actions and quite frankly didn't care about this blood.

"Just take a look." Chris pushes the microscope closer to Edward and nods his head towards it, continuing to tell him to look. Edward sighs heavily and then bows his head to the microscope once more.

He stares at the blood cells swimming about long and hard while playing with the magnification once again. Chris watches as his friend's eyebrows slowly knit together in confusion, much like his own had earlier at the spectacle.

"What do you see?" Chris asks and leans against the lab desk, chewing on the end of his pen. Edward shakes his head, trying to find the words to describe what his eyes were seeing.

"The human cells seem to be...abstaining from accepting the infected cells as the dominant." Edward lifts his head from the microscope and stares across the room for a moment in quiet thought, "But that can't be..."

Thinking his eyes had deceived him, he looks back through the microscope once more and then looks over at Chris. Edward shakes his head slowly, unable to form words for what was happening before them.

"I don't know." Chris answers the question lingering in Edward's eyes for he too had been asking himself the same question; how could this be? Chris looks at the microscope and shakes his head, "I don't know how. I've been trying to figure it out for a few days now, but I just...I just can't get to a conclusion. It's not like she has an extra chromosome or is even missing one. It's just something in her blood."

Chris releases a heavy sigh and runs a hand over his face, blinking several times. He looks across the room at nothing, becoming lost in his own thoughts.

"Or maybe it's not as complicated as something **in **her blood so much as it's something _about_ it." Edward looks through the microscope again. He watches as the last traces of the virus disappear as if it was water in a frying pan; evaporating into thin air. Edward looks to his friend confused by what he had seen. He couldn't believe it. It just couldn't be.

"Do we know whose blood this belongs to?" He asks slowly, leaning an arm on the desk top and watching his friend.

"Just that it's from some strange human girl that was brought in a few days ago." Chris replies and then shakes his head, giving a harsh laugh, "I didn't think Bromley was serious when he said she was special."

"Wait. Bromley already knows about her blood?" Edward's eyes narrow suspiciously. Chris nods his head and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. This wasn't good. Edward could plainly see that, "How?"

"I don't know. Someone tipped him off about her and he sent some guys to collect her. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out how her blood is warding off the virus." Chris picks up the lens from the microscope and wipes it clean, preparing to test the blood in a different setting.

"How many vials of her blood do we have?" Edward asks and watches as Chris stands from his spot and walks to a nearby counter.

"Three right now, but I have to go and get more tomorrow. Can you believe that? On my day off I have to come in just to extract blood from some poor girl downstairs." Chris replies and picks up several test tubes and a dropper. Edward nods his head slowly and runs a hand over his mouth as he thinks.

"Does she know about her blood?" Edward moves on, questions swirling in his head. This was so new and so unbelievable. No one could have ever expected this.

"I'm not sure." Chris measures out five milliliters of blood into one of the test tubes and then gives a small laugh, shaking his head, "She stopped talking to me the day I brought her to her new home in the Abyss."

Edward nods his head, taking everything his friend and colleague was saying. Suddenly his expression changes as something clicks in his head. His eyes move back to his friend as his mind reeled back to the mention of 'The Abyss'; the secret basement below the decoy basement.

"She's here in the building?" He asks after another moment of thinking. Chris looks over from looking at the blood in one of the test tubes and nods his head.

"You didn't expect Bromley to let her go, did you?" He gives a small laugh and looks back at the test tube, swirling the blood within it. He picks up a dropper and fills it with a blue liquid, lifting it over the top of the test tube. Carefully, he squeezes out three drops and watches as the blue seeps below the blood.

"No, of course not." Edward mumbles and then slowly stands from his seat. He walks to where he had set his briefcase down and opens it, searching through his papers and reports from other researches including the _substitute_. He looks up slowly and watches Chris as he examines the blood that had now turned a deep rich purple.

_…just wishful thinking, I suppose…_

Edward takes his eyes from the blood and sits down on the nearest stool, preparing to work on his own projects. His thoughts ran to the blood substitute that he was being hounded to perfect in such a little time, but soon they drifted back to the anomaly of the human girl's blood.

An idea sparks in his mind, causing him to look over at his friend again as he experimented further on the blood.

"Chris," Edward speaks up and crosses his hands on top of the lab desk he sat at. Chris looks over from his own work, waiting for Edward to finish his question, "Why don't I go tomorrow and get the blood samples? I have to be here anyway. It'll save you the hassle."

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks." Chris gives a small smile and then goes back to his work, becoming lost in it. Edward stares at him a moment longer and then looks back to his own papers sitting before him on the desk.

"Don't mention it." Edward replies softly as his thoughts linger away from his work once more and reel back to the girl sitting only a few floors beneath him with blood that just might save them all. Not from starvation, but from themselves.


	3. Chapter 3

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

"May the angels protect you, trouble neglect you, and heaven accept you when it's time to go home. May you always have plenty, your glass never empty and know in your belly you're never alone." I sing softly to myself as I lie on the small cot in the corner of my prison cell. I stare dismally at the cold grey ceiling above me, wondering how I had gotten myself into this situation.

I had been locked in this cell for two weeks. There was no natural lighting even though no vampires, except for Caruso, ever came inside the room. I had nothing to do except stare at the ceiling or sleep and I was quickly becoming bored with it. According to Caruso they didn't, meaning Bromley, want me getting hurt...or killed.

So apparently, being human meant that I was just too fragile to handle a paperback book. Fear of bleeding out from a paper cut or something I suppose. Now, I know that my entire life was circled by bad luck, but even bad luck wouldn't allow me to die in such a lousy way. That would just be too sad, even for me.

"May your tears come from laughing. You find friends worth having; with every year passing they mean more than gold. May you win, but stay humble, smile more than grumble, and know when you stumble you're never alone." I smile softly to myself and bob my right foot that lay crossed over my left knee. My smile slowly fades as my thoughts rear to the good friends I had in fact once had.

There had once been a time when I lived a normal life; a time when I was safe and able to have friends and not be afraid of every person I met, human and vampire alike. These days no one could be trusted and I don't trust most vampires like I don't trust most humans anymore. A vampire's animalistic bloodlust was a powerful thing and a human's will to stay alive was stronger.

My head suddenly snaps to the direction of the door of the cell. A soft knock come again from the other side. I slowly sit up on the cot and watch as the door slowly opens, revealing an unfamiliar man in a white lab coat.

"Where's Caruso?" I ask gently, not against having someone other then the annoying vampire I was used to visiting me. The man walks further into the room carrying a small blue box and followed by a soldier. I stare at the soldier with a blank expression, not as pleased to see him, "I see _you're_ back though."

The soldier glares down at me and I can't help, but give a little smile and roll my eyes. I had done nothing to really piss him off, but I guess this day in age all you had to be was another species and that was reason enough for someone to hate you.

"I'm Doctor Edward Dalton." Doctor Dalton looks behind him at the soldier a moment and then back down at me, giving a small apologetic smile. I knit my eyebrows together a little and watch the Doctor carefully.

It was unusual for a vampire to be so…polite; especially to a human. None of the vampires working for Bromley were civil to me beside Caruso. So why was this one? Was it just a doctor thing?

"Do all doctors, medical or not, practice good bedside manner?" I mumble to myself and stand up from the cot.

"I wouldn't know. You're the first one to hint that I had any bedside manner what so ever." Doctor Dalton replies with a small smile. I outstretch my hand to him and notice the soldier stiffen as if I had pulled out a gun. I can't help but give a small laugh and shake my head.

"Would you relax?" I laugh again at the soldier's behavior and look back to the new doctor, "I'm Rosaline Carter and it's a pleasure to meet you Doctor Dalton. Even in this grim and unwelcoming atmosphere."

"You're not afraid of us?" Doctor Dalton's words seemed more like a question to himself as his eyes fall upon my hand.

"Of course I am." I reply honestly with a soft expression, fear hiding just beneath the surface. Doctor Dalton looks up from my hand and stares at me with familiar golden eyes that every vampire shares, "But letting my fear show and consume me gives Bromley the upper hand he so desperately desires…and I **won't **have that."

A moment passes by before Doctor Dalton takes my hand, shaking it firmly. I look down at his hand and give a small smile. I register just how cold it felt in my own, like a block of ice. They all felt like that.

"Wow. You guys really got the _'grip of death' _thing down." I give another small smile and let go of Dalton's hand, rubbing my palms together to warm them. I give a small laugh and sit back on the cot, crossing my legs. I lean back against the wall the cot was pressed up against and look up at Doctor Dalton, waiting patiently for what was inevitably to come; drawing blood for testing.

"It's a steady sixty degrees." Doctor Dalton comments and gives a small laugh of his own. It wasn't completely sincere and I could hear a hint of discomfort in his tone. Obviously he didn't like being around me or maybe just humans altogether.

"Come to retrieve blood for your friend, Doctor Prick?" I ask and lean my head back against the wall.

"He's not so bad once you get to know him." Doctor Dalton nods his head, but makes no move to come closer to me. I narrow my eyes at him and nod my head slowly, calculating his actions or lack there of.

"Is it just me," I start and cock an eyebrow, "or are you guys more afraid of me then I am you?"

"No, no it's just," Doctor Dalton begins, but falters. He takes a deep breath and thinks about what to say, "You're just not what I expected."

"You're not what I expected either. You're actually," I stop for a moment and search for the right word, "…pleasant."

"Well thank you." Doctor Dalton gives a small nod of his head and then lifts the blue box he was carrying, "Shall we?"

"Why not? I have nothing else better to do today." I give a shrug of my shoulders and sit up straight on the cot. Doctor Dalton walks closer and kneels beside me. He opens the box and pulls on a pair of gloves. Next he pulls out a tourniquet and holds out a hand for my arm.

"Can I have your arm please?" He asks and waits for me to give him my right arm. I outstretch my arm, palm up, and try to keep myself from laughing.

"Oh, please huh? You're polite too. It must be my lucky day." I comment quietly and smile when he looks up at me. He quickly ties the tourniquet tightly around my arm and searches the crease of my elbow for a suitable vein.

"Found one." Doctor Dalton whispers to himself and then pulls out a bacterial wipe from the box. He quickly dabs my arm and pulls out a needle, going to stick my arm. He suddenly stops dead and looks up at me as if contemplating something, "Private Jenkins?"

"Yes sir?" The soldier standing a few feet behind Doctor Dalton replied and took a step forward. Doctor Dalton takes a deep breath and lets it out in a swift huff.

"Could you please leave the room till I'm finished?" Doctor Dalton requests while his eyes never leave my face. I feel my eyebrows knit together as I look between the doctor and the soldier.

"I've been ordered to stay by this cell at all times, sir." The private replies and looks over at me.

"You didn't stay in here when Caruso was here." I speak up and keep my eyes locked with his. I feel Doctor Dalton's eyes rest on me a moment before looking up at the Private.

"I'd rather not have a bloodbath on my hands. Especially, since you probably haven't feed in a few days. Now please wait outside." Doctor Dalton responds with honesty ringing in his voice. I was starting to like this doctor more by the minute.

"Yes sir." The soldier replies with a tight jaw and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I look back down at the doctor and then at my arm, watching as he prepared to puncture my arm with the needle.

"You're not going to go all blood thirsty on me are you?" I ask softly, fear fluttering in my voice. Doctor Dalton freezes again just before piercing my skin and stares blankly at my arm. Slowly, as if having to think hard about it, he shakes his head and looks up at me. He shakes his head again and I could tell that it was more for his sake, to reassure himself, that he wouldn't then it was for me.

"No. I promise I won't." He speaks softly and then looks back down at my arm. He quickly pokes the needle through my skin and into the vein, attaching a vial to the end of it. The room sat silent for several minutes until Doctor Dalton had to change the vials. I watch quietly as he skillfully switches the vials without even having to look.

"So tell me Rosaline," Doctor Dalton starts as he watches the vial fill up slowly with my blood, "What makes your blood so special that Charles Bromley would want us to test it so many times?"

I stare down at him with a blank expression, not sure how to answer. This was a subject I had really hoped wouldn't come up, but he was a Hematologist and Bromley wanted **my **blood. So there had to be something really special about it and of course he would be curious.

"I can't turn into one." I speak barely above a whisper and if I hadn't remembered he was a vampire I would have thought he hadn't heard me. I feel the slight tug on my arm, signaling to me that he was switching vials again.

"Turn into what? One of us?" Doctor Dalton asks and looks up at me. I nod my head and look down at the cement floor. I could feel Doctor Dalton's eyes linger on me, burning a hole in me the way Bromley's had the night I had been brought to the Bromley Marks building.

"Do you have any idea why?" He continues and I shake my head this time.

"Nope. All I know is that when I get bit by a vampire I don't turn into one." I answer honestly. I start to feel a little light headed and slowly my head spins in a dizzy spell. I blink several times, taking a deep breath, "Don't really care about _why_ I don't turn though."

"You're not the least bit curious?" I feel Doctor Dalton's eyes rest on me again, but I don't look to him, "If you were to turn you could escape illness and pain. You could live forever. You would never have to worry about anything."

I look to him for a brief moment and then look down at the ground. I try to think my answer through carefully since I had never really thought of it. I had never been asked such a question before. After a long moment and another vial switch, I look to him again.

"I don't want to turn because I want to live." I start and then stop. I lick my lips and shake my head, my eyes coming to rest on his golden orbs that had refused to leave my face, "I mean...I want to **really** live…and that means getting sick with the flu and getting bruised and scraped. It means feeling the joy of loving someone and the pain of losing them because otherwise you're just..."

"Just what?" I look back up at him and see an emotion I couldn't place swirling in his eyes. It reminded me wanting and of needing. I cock my head a little and continue to stare at him, wondering what it was that made his eyes smolder as if he understood how I felt; as if he wanted exactly what I was talking about.

"Otherwise you're just not living at all because you don't truly feel anything. You become numb." I finish, but don't look away from him. Slowly he tears his eyes from mine and the air falls quiet. I could feel myself becoming sleepy and wanted nothing more then to lie down on the hard excuse for a cot I currently sat on. I feel another tug on my arm as Doctor Dalton switches the vials once more.

"You have no idea what this could mean, do you?" Doctor Dalton's voice brought me out of my dizzy spell and back into consciousness.

"No idea about what?" I shake my head a little and lean back against the wall.

"What your blood could mean, Rosaline." He had suddenly become more animate and his hold on my arm tightened to a dull ache. Any tighter and I was sure to get a bruise and a little tighter then that could break my arm in half.

"You're right. I have no idea." I mumble out as I feel my eyes becoming heavy again. I feel myself drifting in and out of my dreamland as Doctor Dalton's grip on my arm loosens slightly. Maybe from realization of how tight he was holding on to me or just because he was becoming lost in his thoughts, "Doctor Dalton? Doctor?"

"Hm?" He replies as I close my eyes and take a deep, soothing breath. I knew he hadn't really heard me. His mind was off somewhere else.

"Doctor Dalton? …Edward?" I ask through a small yawn and open my eyes a little. I feel Edward pull the needle from my arm and feel something spongy in its place.

"Yes?" The doctor replies again, a little stronger as if shaken from his thoughts. I feel the spongy object pressed firmly into the crease of my arm and then feel tape cover it, holding it to its place.

"Can you come back instead of Caruso?" I ask and rearrange myself on the cot, "I like you more then him. You give off a more…humanly feel then he does. It's a nice change from the stiffs I usually get to chat with."

I hear the doctor give a small laugh as he closes the small blue box back up.

"I'll see you the next time then." I hear him stand up from the ground and start to walk towards the door.

"Doctor?" I call after him, opening my eyes as much as I could. Doctor Dalton looks back at me as the door to the room opens, "Could you bring me something to do next time? Like a book maybe? I know I'm not supposed to have anything because Bromley doesn't want me killing myself or something, but I promise I won't."

"I think you could handle a book. Have a specific one in mind?" He asks and places one of his hands into one of his lab coat pockets. I shake my head at his question and look up at the ceiling for a moment.

"Anything's better then sitting in this cell and staring at the ceiling for hours on end." I reply with a smile and look back at him. He gives a small nod and walks out, the door closing behind him as I lie down on the cot to drift away.


	4. Chapter 4

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

_'Answers to the name of Buck,' the man soliloquized, quoting from the saloon-keeper's letter which had announced the consignment of the crate and contents. 'Well, Buck, my boy," he went on in a genial voice, 'we've had our little ruction, and the best thing we can do is to let it go at that. You've learned your place, and I know mine. Be a good dog and all 'll go well and the goose hang high. Be a bad dog, and I'll whale the stuffin' outa you. Understand?'_

_As he spoke he fearlessly patted the head he had so mercilessly pounded, and though Buck's hair involuntarily bristled at touch of the hand, he endured it without protest. When the man brought him water he drank eagerly and later bolted a generous meal of raw meat, chunk by chunk, from the man's hand._

_He was bea-_

A knock interrupts my reading, making me look up from my book, The Call of the Wild by Jack London. I stare at the heavy door of the room and wait for a second knock. Another knock comes and then the door slowly opens to reveal Private Jenkins and Doctor Dalton standing behind him. I look down at the book and then close it, setting it down on my lap with a finger marking my place for the moment.

"You need more blood already, Doctor Dalton? Weren't you just here two days ago?" I ask as I remove my finger from the book and stand up from the floor. I fix the bottom of my shirt and walk to the cot, setting the book down lazily.

Doctor Dalton had been coming for my blood for four months now. Lately though, it seemed liked every other day rather then once a week like it was supposed to be. I couldn't help but wonder what they were doing with my blood that would cause them to need so much. How many tests could they possibly run?

"How many times have I told you to call me Edward?" Doctor Dalton or Edward asks as he walks further into the room accompanied by the soldier. I give Edward a shrug and look up towards the ceiling as if I was actually thinking about it.

"Oh, I think we're up to twelve now." I reply with a smirk and look over at Private Jenkins, who had followed Edward into the room like every other time, "Good evening my ray of sunshine. How are you today?"

Private Jenkins growls lowly at me and bares his fangs, one side of his upper lip twitching. I nod my head, look away and then shake my head while rolling my eyes. I look back at Edward and he gives a small sigh, staring down at me for a long moment.

"Do we have a diagnosis yet, Doc? Is it that I have some rare genetic deformity that keeps me from becoming like the soldier of stone over there?" I ask and nod my head in Jenkins's direction. Jenkins gives another low growl and crosses his arms, glaring at me. Edward shakes his head and switches the medical box from one hand to the other.

"I don't believe so. You're cells look very healthy. There are no blood diseases or deformities that we can find, but we're just still not having any luck figuring out why your blood won't accept the infected cells as the dominant." Edward looks behind him at Private Jenkins and gives him the nod, signaling that he should leave.

"I'll be right outside if you need me, Doctor Dalton sir." Jenkins grits out while glaring at me. Edward nods at him again and then Private Jenkins walks to the door, shutting it behind him. Edward looks back at me, his expression seeming to try and apologize for Private Jenkins's behavior.

"We're not all like that." He speaks up after another moment, shoving his free hand into his lab coat pocket.

"I know that. You're proof of it." I reply with a small laugh. I push myself back further on the cot to lean against the wall, letting my feet dangle off the side, "What do you think it could be if not some deformity or disease?"

Edward watches me a moment and then gives and small bob of his head while trying to think of a logical answer. I knew he had a few ideas. Other wise he wouldn't still be coming to get my blood and I wouldn't still be alive.

"Right now I'm thinking it's either an extra enzyme or lack there of. It could also be an enzyme that has evolved or one of your chromosomes, but I think that's highly unlikely." He replies and stares down at me. His golden eyes seemed more yellow today then gold. I had seen this several times before, but I was unaware of what it meant.

"I still don't understand. What could my blood possibly do for you?" I comment and lay my hands in my lap. I had ideas of why they wanted my blood, but I had never been told by anyone in the building the actual reasons for my capture and containment.

"It could help us find a way to keep humans human so we won't run out of food." He answers almost immediately. I knew he was joking, but I couldn't help but give a small harsh laugh anyway.

"Oh! Why didn't I think of that?" I comment sarcastically and shake my head. That was the first idea I had had about the topic. It seemed the most logical and it fit Bromley's prick attitude, "And the other reasons?"

"Well, your blood could help us develop a blood substitute. That's what we're trying for right now." He replies, his yellow eyes beginning to smolder a bright gold as his fangs glisten with the light from the false sun light in the room, "With a substitute we would never need to hunt humans again."

"Do you think other vampires would go for a substitute as opposed to the real thing? Especially, after we start repopulating again?" I ask seriously. Edward stares at me hard for a long moment and then moves to the cot, sitting down beside me on the edge of it. He sets the medical box down between us, to create some kind of barrier, and then looks down at the floor.

"I think that there will always be some vampires that will want the real thing." He starts and then falls silent. I see his eyes glaze over as he begins to be pulled into his thoughts, "For the most part though, I believe that most of us don't want to be the cause for the extinction of the human race and therefore will use the substitute."

"What's the third reason?" I ask while I play with my finger nails. Edward lifts his head and looks back at me a moment. He then turns away and stares across the room at the door. I wait patiently for him to continue, half of me wanting to know and the other half just wanting to listen to his voice.

This vampire doctor, whom I was wary to trust in the beginning of things, was the only person that ever came to see me. He was polite and we always had good conversations. I didn't want to rush him and have him never come back again. I think I would go insane in here if it weren't for him.

"I firmly believe...that your blood could be a reversal." He says after another moment. I raise my gaze from my nails and stare at him, seeing he was being completely serious.

"What do you mean a reversal? A cure?" I ask somewhat hastily. I had never even thought about a cure for vampirism. Why would I? Most the vampires I knew liked the way they were and wouldn't change it for anything.

"Yes a cure. I believe I can develop one from it; from whatever is keeping you human." Edward replies, lacing his hands together in front of him, balancing them on his knees. I fall silent, unable to think of what to say. A cure would be better then any substitute ever would. I look back at him again and see he had floated off into his thoughts again; his eyes glazed and face straight.

I wonder what he is thinking. Maybe about the possibility of a cure? Would he want a cure? Would he use it? Edward seemed to be compassionate with the humans. He spoke like he didn't want to be a vampire; like he felt he was cursed by it rather then blessed.

"...do you want that?" I ask slowly, unsure of how he would answer. Some days he seemed like every other vampire I had ever met; no wanting to change and seeing this virus as evolution; a blessing. Then there were other days, like these, where he seemed so angry or sad that he was this way.

"I'm not sure." He replies, looking back at me for a brief moment. I stare at him a moment longer and then look down at my hands.

"Yes you are." I retort with certainty. I could tell by the way he had looked at me that he knew what he wanted.

"It doesn't matter." He speaks softly and looks down at the floor.

"It does to me, Edward."

"Why?" His head snaps to look at me, his smoldering gold eyes searching mine for an answer, "Why?"

I pause, his look burning a hole through me. He looks so sad, so...helpless; like a puppy that's lost its master and is now roaming the streets alone. I feel my heart sink into my stomach as I tried to think of an answer.

"...I'm human, Edward." I reply softly, unsure of myself. I didn't know what to say to him, how to answer his question, "Humanity means to be compassionate, sympathetic, and benevolent. I care about everything...more then I probably should, but I do care. Especially, when I see distress...or suffering."

I fall silent; feeling like my words didn't do justice. Edward looks away from me and stares at the door across the room. It feels like hours that we just sit there silently, but then Edward moves, running a hand over his face.

"Edward, do you really believe that you can make a cure?" I ask softly, making him look back at me. He pauses a moment and then nods his head sure of himself.

"I hope so anyway." He replies with a half hearted smile and then kneels beside me. He opens the box and takes hold of my right arm at the wrist. He slowly starts to roll up my sleeve and then stops, staring at my forearm. I see him swallow hard and see his expression go blank as his icy fingers delicately trace my skin.

He had seen it many times before. Almost every day that he's been coming he saw it; the two little puncture scars that burned bright red against my fair flesh. He knew what it was before I could even explain it to him. To him it was a battle wound, but to me it was a permanent reminder that I could never become one of them.

He slowly starts to continue to roll up my sleeve and stops again. This time it was the large black and blue mark circling the crease of my elbow. He sighs heavily, exasperated by everything.

"It looks worse then it is." I comment on the bruising as I stare down at it. He looks up at me and I can tell that he's not buying into my words, "So it's really sore. I'm not going to die from another poking though."

"I'll take it from your other arm." Edward stands up with the blue medical box and moves to the other side of me. He rolls up my left sleeve and ties a tourniquet around my arm. He dabs my arm and prepares the needle, slowly sliding it into my skin. I lean back against the wall and close my eyes.

"I started the new book you gave me. It's pretty good." I try to strike up a conversation and open my eyes.

"I'm glad." He replies softly. I hadn't known him for long, but it was long enough for me to become accustomed to the tone in his voice; distracted. I look over at him and watch while he watches my blood fill the vials.

The rest of the time was spent in silence. I wanted to talk with him more, but today was just one of those days. I could tell he wanted a moment of silence from everyone upstairs and a distraction from the work Bromley was making him do. So, I gave it to him.

"All done." Edward taps a piece of gauze over the small pinprick in my arm and packs up his medical box with the vials.

"Alright. Next time bring my arm some ice please." I give him a small smile and lie down on the cot, pulling the sorry excuse for a pillow against my chest.

"What for?" Edward asks as he walks towards the door.

"For all my bruises and aches." I laugh as I close my eyes and let out a long yawn, pulling my knees up a little closer to me. I expected Edward to leave without another word, but, as he had done so many times, he surprised me.

"...Rosaline?" I slowly open my tired eyes and look to him, standing by the door of the room. Edward stares at me and I can see he had a serious question to ask me.

"Hm?" I lean on my elbow and watch him as he moves a little closer.

"Have you always bruised easily? And scarred?" He asks simply. I knit my eyebrows together and nod my head a few times. He licks his lips and takes a step closer, "Have you ever had an immune response?"

"Edward, I'm not a doctor." I give a small laugh and let out a yawn. I had no idea what an immune response meant. It could be a rock band for all I knew.

"An immune response is any response of the immune system to an antigenic stimulus, including antibody production, cell-mediated immunity, and immunological tolerance." He defines like a dictionary and takes a few more steps closer.

"I don't know. When I was a kid I was always going for doctor visits though because I was sick a lot." I ask, not seeing a connection between anything.

"A lot of flu like symptoms?" Edward asks as if knowing something concrete.

"Yes...?" I reply though it sounded more like a question. Edward nods his head and looks off to the side. He runs a hand over his mouth and clicks his teeth. He points a finger at me and wages it up and down slowly.

"I think I might have just figured it out." Edward quickly turns from me and heads to the door.

"Hey wait! Figured what out? Edward!" I call after him, but he departs through the door in a hurry before I can get an answer. I scoff and shake my head towards his behavior. What could I have said to have made him act so funny? What had he figured out so suddenly? The secret to my blood perhaps?

I scoff again and pick up the book from beside my feet. I plop back on the cot and slip through the pages, searching for where I had left off. I get as comfortable as I can and begin reading again.

_He was beaten, he knew that, but he was not broken. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned the lesson, and in all his afterlife he never forgot it. That club was a revelation. It was his introduction to the reign of primitive law... The facts of life took on a fiercer aspect, and while he faced that aspect uncowed, he faced it with all the latent cunning of his nature aroused._

_As the days went by, other dogs came, in crates and at the ends of ropes, some docilely, and some raging and roaring as he had come; and, one and all, he watched them pass under the dominion of the man in the red sweater. Again and again, as he looked at each brutal performance, the lesson was driven home to Buck: a man with a club was a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed, though not necessarily conciliated. Of this last Buck was never guilty, though he did see beaten dogs that fawned upon the man, and wagged their tails, and licked his hand. Also he saw one dog, that would neither conciliate nor obey, finally killed in the struggle for mastery._..


	5. Chapter 5

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

**-Edward's POV-**

Today was the meeting with Charles Bromley and the committee about the blood substitute and I was running late. I briskly walk through the first doors of the Bromley Marks building, my briefcase in hand, hat upon my head, and trench coat flapping wildly with each step.

I walk through each of the scanners and up to the retinal and facial scanner to be approved entrance into the facility. Once approved, I walk into the main hall and up to the elevators. I hit the button for the floor I wanted and stand as still as stone until the elevator comes to a stop and the doors open.

I step out of the elevator to be greeted by the same grim sight that met me each and every time I came to work. I step closer to the glass window and stare out at all the incapacitated humans. Each one was attached nakedly to a machine that pumped out their blood for our selfish needs. Each of them looked half dead, struggling to hang on to their lives while we struggled for our own through them.

I stare for another moment and then turn left, walking towards the red doors ahead that would lead to my lab. I set my briefcase down at my desk along with my hat and trench coat, leaving me with my suit and tie. I head back out and head for the meeting room where everyone was surely waiting for me.

"Ah! There he is. Edward, sit down." Charles Bromley points to a seat and I look to see Caruso and Rosaline. I feel my eyebrows pull together in question as I look from Rosaline to Caruso. He shakes a hand at me, telling me not to ask right now. I take my seat on the opposite side of Rosaline and pull out a smoke from my pocket, lighting up.

"You shouldn't smoke." I give a small huff of a laugh and take a long drag from my cigarette. I look over at Rosaline and blow smoke out away from her, "It's bad for your health."

"And you should hold that tongue of yours. It'll get you_ killed_ one day." Caruso whispers back to her. I look over Rosaline's head at him, wishing he hadn't said that. I understood now why she didn't like him. He was like all the others; humans are inferior beings.

"You really have nothing better then that?" Rosaline whispers back and shakes her head of golden waves at him.

"Rosie," Bromley draws out his nickname for Rosaline sternly, staring at her with his hands folded on top of the table. She doesn't bother to look at him, but I see her jaw clench as she stares hard at the table top. She obviously didn't like the nickname too much, "Be a good girl and sit quietly."

Rosaline doesn't make another peep and only stares at the screen for the meeting at the back of the room. I look around the room at who was there, mostly high status officials like people from the military or from political offices. Caruso was the only other doctor and Rosaline was obviously the only human.

I was still confused as to why she was here. Bromley would probably answer that question soon enough though.

"Gentlemen this is Rosaline Carter," Bromley starts, "She's the one that I've been discussing with you as of late. Her blood is a rare commodity and for the last several months I have had my lead hematologist, Doctor Edward Dalton and Doctor Christopher Caruso, studying it."

"Now that we've got the introductions out of the way," I mumble under my breath and take another drag from my cigarette.

"Gentlemen," A rather round man holding a cigar speaks up from across the table. He stops and looks at Rosaline, "human...All the information in this meeting is classified and should be kept as such. Commissioner?"

The round man drops ashes onto the table from his cigar and then takes a drag. The picture that had floated onto the screen behind the Commissioner, who was standing at the opposite end of the table, was of a normal person, a normal vampire with long hair and golden eyes.

"Death row inmate 4-7-0-5-B was a vampire selected for a month long study on the effects of blood deprivation." The Commissioner speaks and looks out at everyone around the table.

"What?" I suddenly question, not believing what I had heard. Why wasn't I informed of this? Why were they doing it in the first place?

"A complete lack of human blood over this period of time resulted in a massive deterioration of the frontal lobe." Slowly the picture behind the Commissioner changes and the effects can be seen on the inmate, "First signs of physical deformities began with elongated ears. Then mental functions such as logic, emotion, most parts of speech. Then turned much faster then you and your team originally speculated doctors."

Caruso and I both look to the Commissioner. I take a long drag from my cigarette and play with it between my fingers. I shake my head slightly and look back at the screen that had changed.

"Oh my God...that's terrible..." I look over at Rosaline, who had gasped this in a whisper, and see her staring at the screen with sad eyes. She held a hand over her mouth as if she might be sick. I watch her a moment longer, curious as to why she sympathized with the inmate, and then look back at the Commissioner.

"Out on the streets these creatures are becoming a real problem." The Commissioner's voice becomes lower and harder, "Gentlemen, we are starving and our latest statistics show that less than five percent of the human race remains."

"What we're talking about is the extinction of the human race." I speak up and look to Bromley.

"What we're talking about is only having enough blood to sustain our population till the end of the month." The Commissioner speaks up again, staring me down. I greet his gaze with a fierce one of my own.

"If we do not find a blood substitute immediately this," the round man points to the screen, "will happen to all of us."

The room falls silent. I stare at the tabletop as my cigarette burns itself out in the ashtray. I feel several pairs of eyes on me; Rosaline's and Bromley's. I continue to stare at the table, trying to ignore both looks, but mostly Rosaline's. Anymore acknowledgement of her existence then what I had already given her today would raise Bromley's suspicions. Even if there was nothing going on he would cease everything and keep me in my lab away from her, which would be punishing her since she so rarely saw anyone besides me and for such a small window.

"Edward?" Bromley speaks up finally, drawing my attention away from my thoughts. I look over at him slowly, knowing what he was going to ask me, "Have we been able to isolate what keeps our Rosie human and create a suitable substitute?"

"Miss Carter...has a very rare blood type called Bombay blood. It was only seen in about every four people per million in the entire world before the breakout. Now I believe the ratio is one per every ten billion." I start and lean back in my chair.

"There aren't even ten billion people in the world." The man sitting beside the round man speaks up, fixing his glasses.

"Exactly. I believe that Miss Carter, if not thee last, then one of the last surviving humans with this blood type." I look down at the table again, knowing that what I had said wouldn't be enough for Bromley or any of the other men in the room, but didn't want to say anymore.

"But how can she be the last if this blood type can't be turned?" The round man asks and then takes a drag of his cigar.

"They're still human. They can die any way a human can, most likely blood loss seeing the ratio of vampires to humans these days." I assume and stick my cigarette back into my mouth.

"So what is Bombay blood?" The round man sitting across from me encourages. I look around the room, daring to glance at Rosaline, and then back at Bromley.

"Individuals with this rare h-h phenotype like her do not produce the H antigen. As a result, they cannot make A or B antigens in their red blood cells because A and B antigens are made from H antigens." I lean on the table again and stare off as I ramble on, "Now, when these individuals receive blood that contains an antigen that has never been in the patient's own blood, such as A, B, or H, this can cause an immune response. An immune response is when your body recognizes and defends itself against bacteria, viruses, and any other substances that appear foreign and harmful."

The room falls quiet for a moment. I didn't want to go further. I didn't even want to say that much, but what I had found intrigued me so much. Rosaline intrigued me so much. I just couldn't help but divulge.

"My, you've thrown a lot of medical terminology at us Edward," Bromley laughs and leans back in his seat, "But I'm afraid we're not all doctors here. What does this all mean in Rosie's case?"

"I believe that Miss Carter suffers from immune responses." I conclude and look from person to person, avoiding Rosaline, "Her body is protecting itself every time her cells come into contact with the infected cells of a vampire. She has the perfect shield."

"My, my, my..." Bromley looks over at Rosaline, whom I could tell was still staring at me out of my peripheral vision. Bromley takes a drag of his cigar and lets out a laugh, putting the cigar out in the ashtray before him, "I'm amazed by you more and more each day, my dear."

Rosaline takes her gaze from me and looks at Bromley, expression blank. It was hard to tell what was going on in her head. It could be a million things, but quite unluckily I was able to catch a glimpse of her eyes and see the fear swimming amongst the striking shades of blue.

She had every reason to be afraid. Not just because she was a human amongst a group of bloodthirsty vampires, but because Bromley was grinning at her. That frightened me too. No one could possibly know what was going on in his head.

"And the substitute?" The Commissioner asks, staring me down. I didn't have an answer for this question. The way Rosaline's blood worked I don't think a substitute could be made from it, but if I said that she would be thrown immediately into one of those machines in the farm. I couldn't let that happen. Especially, since I believed so strongly that her blood held the answer to a cure.

"I believe that we are...closer to a usable substitute using her blood rather then others." I answer the question finally and look back at Bromley. He nods his head, liking my answer well enough.

"Well then gentlemen. I say we can call this meeting to a close. I'll see you all in two weeks." Bromley stands from his seat along with the other officials. I take a chance and look down at Rosaline. Her head was bowed, eyes cast downward, and face still wiped clean of emotion.

"Are you alright?" I ask as quietly as I can, looking at the officials from the corner of my eyes. Each of them were talking amongst themselves, shaking each others hands, and finishing their glasses of blood.

"For now." Rosaline looks to me and I could not only hear the double meaning, but sense it. For now meant exactly what it sounded like and also meant that she knew it was very likely she wouldn't be alright for long. Especially, if I knew what Bromley was planning to do with her.

"Edward." I look away from Rosaline and at Bromley. He waves a hand at me, telling me to come over to him. I reluctantly stand from the table and walk passed Rosaline and Caruso, "Chris, would you take Rosie back to her room?"

"Yes sir." Caruso stands from the table and Rosaline stands with him, following him to the door of the room. I watch them leave together and then look back at Bromley, who had done the same thing.

"Come with me. I have some things I want to discuss with you in private." Bromley places a hand on my shoulder and leads me to the door, heading for his office. Once inside his office I take a seat in a chair before his desk while Bromley stands at his window, peering out at the dark city below.

"Enjoy your coffee sir." Bromley's assistant snaps me from my thoughts and walks away, shutting the office door behind her. I look to the cup of coffee sitting before me. I pick up the spoon and stir the light colored liquid, forcing the blood to rise to the top and mix with the drink.

"Did I ever tell you about my daughter, Alison?" Bromley speaks up after another moment. I set my spoon back on the saucer beneath my cup and fold my hands in my lap, "In early 2008, I was diagnosed with sarcoma. The shock of finding out I had cancer was one thing, but having to tell my daughter...she was devastated. I prayed for a miracle, but I was realistic."

Bromley pauses and moment and then moves away from the window. He faces me and gives a small smile. He walks closer to his desk and leans on it, his palms pressed firmly to the top.

"And then the world changed. My prayers were answered. Immortality gave me my cure and my daughter and I now had all the time in the world, but she saw this evolution as a disease; worse then any cancer. She refused to turn." Bromley pauses again and shakes his head, sighing heavily. He stands up straight and takes a cigar from his desk, "I was a monster to her. Then she ran like so many did. Oh we are blessed, Edward; blessed. And you have to stare death in the face to truly know that."

"We're not ready yet, Mr. Bromley." I speak up, knowing where he was going with his personal story. I take out my cigarettes and pull one from the box.

"Not a coffee drinker?" Bromley asks, motioning to my untouched cup of coffee.

"Not really." I reply and stick my cigarette between my lips, lighting it up.

"You pity the humans don't you?" Bromley asks and then nods his head at my silence. He moves closer to his chair and sits down, "Well me too. Me too...These are desperate times, Edward. We must commence testing the blood substitute. It is the only way to help the human race."

Bromley falls silent, staring off as he fell into his thoughts. I watch him carefully, taking notice to him drumming one of his hands on his desk while the other played with his unlit cigar.

"Other wise...keeping Rosaline out of the farm to study her blood has been a waste of time, effort, and money." Bromley looks over at me and gives me a smile that I knew would reassure anyone else in the building, but filled me with panic, "You can go now, Edward."

I put my cigarette out and stand up from my seat, walking to the door of the room. I walk out and head down the hallway to the lab, walking inside. I pull on my lab coat and sit down beside Caruso, staring down at the floor quietly as I tried to think.

If the substitute we had created from Rosaline's blood doesn't work, then Bromley would have no use for her. He doesn't care about a cure. He's made that clear. So, Rosaline would then be put into the farm to extract her blood for food. It was clear to me that she couldn't stay here any longer, but how could I-

"He wants us to move ahead again doesn't he?" Caruso's voice pulls me from my thoughts. I look over at him for a brief moment and then nod.

"Yeah." I reply simply.

"Okay...okay." Caruso nods his head a couple of times. I look over at him again and then at the report papers in front of him.

"Is there any change?" I ask carefully.

"Hemacilin and CBC and the biochemical panel; all stable." Caruso hands me the papers he had before him and I look them over. I saw exactly what he saw, all good signs, but it just didn't seem to be enough. Just because it looked well on paper didn't mean that it would work, "The substitute is working. It's time to move beyond animal testing."

I keep silent, not wanting to really agree or disagree with him.

"You know...the Verbena Cemetery Park was raided by a bunch of kids last night." He starts up again softly, "They dug up a dozen graves, thinking they'd find some human blood. It's nuts out there."

I lower the papers from my view and stare at the vials of Rosaline's blood in the glass case. Each one was labeled with her name on the side with heavy ink. If the substitute worked on a human vampire, then she would be safe for a little longer and so would her blood for more testing, but if it didn't...

"Okay. We'll test it in a couple of days on one of the privates. Till then we run a few more tests on the animals to be absolutely sure." I conclude and hand him the papers back. He nods his head and stands from his seat, walking around the tall counter. I pull out one of Rosaline's vials from the case and set it down beside my microscope. I pull out a lens and then pick up the vial again. I hold it in front of a light and stare at it a moment.

If I could produce a substitute from this girl's rare blood, then the human race would be saved. But if I could produce a cure...then we all would be saved.


	6. Chapter 6

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Unfortunetly, instead of being out trick-or-treating like any normal teenager, I am stuck at home handing out candy and working on these chapters for all of you. I know, I sacrifice so much for you all because that's just the kind of peraon I am. Don't eat too much candy!

-Purple Rose

* * *

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

"It doesn't hurt me...You wanna feel how it feels? You wanna know; know that it doesn't hurt me? You wanna hear about the deal I'm making? You be running up that hill. You and me be running up that hill..." I sing softly to myself as I stare up at the ceiling of my prison. I bounce my right foot as my right leg is crossed over my left, "And if I only could make a deal with God and get him to swap our places...be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building. If I only could..."

I had finished the book Edward had brought me days ago and had resorted to trying to occupy my mindless hours on my own. I hadn't seen Edward in days, which was strange. I was so used to seeing him so often and now it had been nearly a week since he had come to collect my blood.

"You don't want to hurt me...but see how deep the bullet lies; unaware that I'm tearing you asunder. There is thunder in our hearts, baby. So much hate for the ones we love? Tell me, we both matter, don't we? You, be running up that hill. You and me be running up that hill. You and me won't be unhappy." I lay my legs down flat on the cot, still keeping my right leg crossed over my left, "And if I only could make a deal with God and get him to swap our places; be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building. If I only could...'C'mon, baby, c'mon. C'mon, darling. Let me steal this mo-"

My singing is interrupted by a knock on the door to my cell. I sit up immediately and let my left foot dangle off the cot. The door opens and Private Jenkins walks in with Edward close behind him.

"Thank you Private. You can go." Edward nods his head at Jenkins and he walks out, leaving us to our business.

"Wow. I was beginning to think you didn't like me anymore." I smile at him and drag my other leg off the cot. I lace my hands in my lap and stare up at him.

"What were you singing?" He asks as he moves closer and sets the medical box in its usually spot on the cot beside me.

"Placebo; Running Up That Hill." I reply and watch as he opens the medical box.

"How are you feeling today? Sore? Fatigued? Maybe a little sick?" He asks and pulls on a pair of gloves. I shake my head and watch as he cleans the area on my left arm, "That's good."

He pulls out the needle and a vial, starting the process almost immediately. Usually we had a nice little chat before we got to business. Something was wrong.

Edward pushes the needle through my skin and begins drawing blood. It stays quiet and I debate with myself over whether or not asking him what was wrong. Or asking why he had stayed away so long; maybe even why he was rushing right now.

I pull myself from my thoughts and look down at him, watching him as he watches my blood filling the small tube. I take notice to the small, hard swallowing in his throat and then look at his eyes. I could see the familiar gleam of bloodlust swirling around the yellow that should have been a molten gold. I understood now what the color change meant. I had seen it so many times before.

"How long has it been?" I ask and tilt my head to the side slightly to look at him better. Edward seems to snap out of his trance and quickly changes vials, keeping his eyes away from the blood now that he had been caught staring.

"Since what?" He asks finally and looks up at me. I arch an eyebrow and then nod my head at my arm.

"How long since you've fed?" I clarify, though I knew very well that he had understood my question the first time. He stares me in the eyes a moment longer and I could tell he was really trying to think of how long it had been, but he resorts to shaking his head.

"I'm not sure." He replies and takes a quick look down at my arm, swallowing hard again at the sight of my blood. I feel my stomach churn uncomfortably and slowly I lean closer to him. I raise my right arm and gently brush back some of his floppy brown hair to see his left ear, "What're you doing?"

I ignore his question and gently run my thumb over the tip. I click my teeth and unknowingly shaking my head at what I saw and felt. It had been a while since he last ate. His ear was a sure sign of it. It was slowly becoming pointed from blood deprivation and if he continued to not eat then he would turn into one of those things; one of those real monsters from our nightmares.

I look into his eyes and let my thumb trace over the small point of his ear again. He takes my hand and pulls it away from his ear, setting it back in my lap with a confused stare.

"Edward, you need to eat." I comment softly as he looks down at my arm and replaces the vial with a new one. He holds my wrist firmly with his right hand while his left held the needle and vial in place.

"I can't." He replies simply, refusing to meet my gaze.

"Why not?" I ask confused by his words.

"I just can't." He replies a little more stern. I knit my eyebrows together and look off to the side in thought. Vampires can't get sick. So what could it be? The fact that he just didn't want to?

"If you can't pay for," I start tentatively, not really believing that it was out of his price range since he worked for the world's leading farm of humans, "Then just take some of my-"

"No...!" Edward's grip on my wrists tightens as his eyes narrow and smolder violently, "No, I won't. I'm not going to drink your blood."

He bears his fangs like I had attacked him as his hold on my wrist gets tighter. I feel my face start to contort in pain though I tried to hide it. I bend to the left and try to pull my arm from him, hissing slightly at the pain searing through my arm. Any tighter and he might just break it.

"Alright, alright...Ow Edward; my wrist. You're hurting me." I hiss out as I flex my hand, still trying to pull out of his grasp. He quickly releases his grip on my wrist as he snaps out of his trance. His fierce expression drifts away as he relaxes and looks anywhere but at me.

"I'm sorry." He whispers out and takes a deep breath, quickly switching the vials again. He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath, lowering his head slightly. I flex my hand and look down at my wrist where I was surely to get a bruise.

After another moment I look over at him and see him watching my blood again. His face was hard and his breathing was shallow and slow. He was fighting the urge; resisting his nature. I had seen this before too.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" I ask softly, not actually asking him, but someone else; someone who had long since passed. For years I had seen vampires do this and for years I have been unable to come to a conclusion on my own.

Edward looks up at me for a brief moment and then at the floor, switching vials quietly. Something told me that it was a much deeper reason then him feeling sorry for the human race like I knew some did. What could it possibly be then? He was a vampire. He didn't have to fear death or illness. He didn't have to worry about other vampires hunting him down. What was it then?

Edward removes the last vial of blood and places it in the medical box. I watch him as he carefully pulls the needle from my arm, trying to not hurt me. He places a piece of gauze over the pinprick and grabs the roll of tape while realization sets in on me.

"Oh Edward..." I breathe out as my eyebrows knit together in sympathy. Edward freezes in his movement of placing the piece of tape over the gauze. Slowly he smoothes it down and packs up his things including the book at the end of the bed, keeping quiet. He stands up ready to leave and takes a step towards the door. I quickly lurch out, trying to grab his arm, but get his hand instead, "Sit down."

"I can't Rosaline. I have to get back to work." He 'tries' to pull his hand from my grip, not wholeheartedly, but I don't let go.

"They will survive without you for a few more minutes." I argue and tug on his hand again. Edward looks over his shoulder at me and then sits down on the cot beside me, setting the medical box down. He pulls his hand from my grasp and laces it with his other before him, leaning his elbows on the top of his knees. He rests his chin on his laced hands and stares at the wall across the room.

I watch him carefully, trying to make out what he was feeling. He looks exhausted, not how humans normally look, but of someone who was exhausted with their way of life. He drops his chin from his hands and bows his head lower, laying the top of it against his hands almost as if he were praying.

Slowly, I stand from the cot and kneel down in front of him. I raise my hands and take his, holding them tightly despite how cold they are. His fingers wrap gently around my hands as he lets out a soft sigh. I gently rub my thumbs over the back of his hands and move a little closer.

I let go of one of his hands and run my fingers through his hair at the top of his head slowly. I do it again and then start once more, but let my fingers travel off to the side and down to his jaw. I cup his icy cheek delicately in my hand and continue to rub my thumb over the back his other hand I still held.

Slowly I feel his head turn towards my palm, his lips brushing my skin. He raises his free hand and places it against my hand on his cheek, holding it there. I begin to run my thumb over his cheek bone below his eye, my heart aching. He slowly lifts his head with his eyes closed and turns to place his lips against the palm of my hand.

"I can hear your heart beating in your chest...your blood rushing through your veins..." He whispers out, his breath tickling my skin. He begins to lower his head again, but I stop him by running my other hand through his hair and gently brushing passed his pointed ear. I could feel pressure building behind my eyes.

"You're not going to lose your humanity, Edward." I whisper and as I blink I feel a hot tear run down one of my cheeks. I had never seen a man like this, let alone a male vampire. I could just feel his despair, his anguish, radiating off of him like heat from the sun. It made me so sad to see him this way, "You're not going to lose yourself."

"I already have." He retorts and opens his eyes to look at me.

"No you haven't." I shake my head and smile for him, "If you had you wouldn't be so nice to me and you wouldn't let me borrow your books or talk we me like we're equals."

"Rosaline," Edward begins and takes both my hands in his, holding them between us. He stares down at them and then looks me in the eyes, "do you trust me?"

"Yes." I reply, unsure of where he was going with this. I trusted this man, this vampire, more then anyone else in the world at the moment. Something about him had reached out to me and snatched me. I trusted him with my life.

"Good. That's...that's good." He nods his head a few times and stands up from the cot. He picks up the medical box as I stand up as well. He looks down at me for a moment and then nods once more to me. He walks towards the door as I stand there confused.

"Edward?" I ask meekly and turn to face him. He stops before the door and looks back at me, "I don't understand."

"Neither do I, but when I do I'll tell you. I promise." He replies, staring at me a moment longer, "Just don't loose your trust in me. Please Rosaline."

I nod my head and he walks out of the room. I sit back down on the cot and then lie down, staring at the ceiling. I was so very confused by him and his behavior. He acted as if something was going to happen. Like something was going to happen to me.

It worried me, but he wanted me to trust him. He had never given me a reason not to. So for now I would. I had no other choice.


	7. Chapter 7

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

A knock from the door to my cell wakes me from my nap and a dead sleep. I knew there was no chance of the visitor would be Edward, since Edward had been here the night before. So my pickings for visitors were slim.

I run a hand through my hair, pushing it back and out of my face. I try to wake up by taking a deep breath, only to have it turn into a yawn. I slowly sit up and run a hand over my face, rubbing my eyes gently to rid them of sleep.

The door to the room opens after another knock and I watch as Bromley walks into the room with a smile on his flour white face with his golden eyes sparkling. Two soldiers follow closely behind him, each of them seeming to glare at me for some unknown offense I had done against them.

In one of Bromley's hands I notice a rectangular box. Around it was a light pink ribbon tied into a bow. He outstretches his arm and holds the box out for me to take.

"I have something for you, my dear." He speaks up after a moment, his tone as bone chilling as his smile. I stand up from the cot and cautiously move closer. My eyes dart from left to right, watching both the soldiers incase this was some sort of trick Bromley had concocted, "It alright. No one's going to hurt you."

"Do I dare state that I highly doubt that again?" I mumble, Bromley's words doing nothing to comfort me. Bromley's smile falters slightly, but he recovers quickly. He hands me the box and folds his hands together before him. I stare at the box a moment, unsure of whether or not to open it, and then look to him.

"Go on. Open it." Bromley nods his head towards the box and waits patiently. I pull on one of the tails to the bow, unraveling the whole thing and sending it to the ground. I open the box to see something light pink inside and slowly I look to Bromley out of the tops of my eyes cautiously. I carefully pull the mess of pink fabric, letting the box fall to the floor, and hold it up against me, "It will look marvelous on you. I'll wait outside while you change."

Bromley and the soldiers walk back to the door. Bromley takes one last look at me and then steps outside, the door shutting behind him.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I stare down at the dress I was holding against me and cringe slightly. It wasn't the style or the color that made me cringe. It was the fact that Bromley had specifically picked this out for me and wanted me to actually wear it.

I slowly undress and pull the dress on over my head, it being a little snug. I smooth it out and look down at it on me. It comes to the middle of my shins where pink taffeta from underneath peeked out. The middle around my abdomen was scrunched at an angle. The small spaghetti straps held the tube top of the dress up, covered in a beaded design.

I pick up the ribbon from the floor and tie it around my head vertically. I move the knot beneath my hair so no one would see it and run my fingers through my hair, smoothing it over my shoulders.

"Rosie, are you finished?" Bromley calls from behind the door. I stare at the door a moment. I didn't want to reply and I most certainly didn't want to be anywhere near Bromley.

"Yes!" I call back reluctantly and look down at myself again. The door opens and Bromley walks in carrying a pair of silver high heels. He hands them to me and I quickly step out of my converses, pulling on the heels.

"You look wonderful." He comments as he looks me over from head to foot. He then claps his hands together and grins at me, "Shall we then?"

"Shall we what?" I ask, my eyes narrowing at him at what was going on.

"We have somewhere we need to be." Bromley replies and then turns on his heels, walking back towards the door of my cell. One of the soldiers follows after him, then me, and then lastly the other soldier behind me. When I step into the hall I notice that Private Jenkins was no where in sight, which was strange. He was always there; morning, noon, and night he stood there waiting for his chance to kill me. At least that's what I felt he was doing.

"This way, my dear." Bromley's voice calls to me from up ahead in the hall. I feel the harsh push of the soldier behind me against my back and I look back at him over my shoulder. I continue to walk while having no idea where I was being led to.

We had ridden several floors in the elevator and had gone down several more hallways. We were now stepping into to a small room filled with the officials from the meeting with some added doctors. I tried to spoke Edward, but he wasn't here. Another strange happening since he was the chief hematologist.

Each of the vampires in the room stood in front of a window that allowed us to peer into an adjoining room. I stand beside Bromley, curious as to what was going on or what was about to go on. The room before us had a lot of medical machines like a heart meter, IV drips, computers, and an examination table right in the middle of it. It reminded me of a testing room.

A door at the back of the medical room opens and I spot Private Jenkins come out in a pair of green scrubs. Behind him were two nurses with caps and masks covering the lower half of their faces. After they had gotten Private Jenkins settled, the door at the back of the room opens again and out sets Caruso and Edward, both also in scrubs.

"What's going on?" I ask and look up at Bromley for an explanation. I was being stupid if I actually thought he would answer me.

"All in good time." He replies and nods his head at Edward behind the glass. I look back to see Edward looking up at Bromley and then at me for a split second. He looks as if he was confused or surprised that I was here. I too was surprised.

He nods his head to everyone around me in the room and then turns to Private Jenkins on the examination table. I take a quick look at Bromley, seeing him smirking like a school boy as he watched what was going on in the next room. It made me nervous for what was about to happen.

One of the nurses picks up a vial filled with some dark red liquid. She hands it to Edward, who shows it to the rest of us in the other room.

"Are they testing a substitute?" I ask and look back to Bromley. He looks down at me and smiles, confirming my assumption. He looks away again as Edward attaches the vial to the tube running from Private Jenkins's arm that was closet to him. Slowly the dark red liquid moves through the tube and disappears into the Private's arm.

"Now Private, you may feel a slight increase in body temperature. That's just the hemacilin entering your blood system. It's to be expected." Edward's voice floats into the room from a speaker. Edward continues to administer the substitute into Private Jenkins's arm as he looks over at Caruso. A few moments go by and Edward looks back down at the Private, "How're you feeling?"

"No change sir." Private Jenkins replies, staring up at the ceiling. I take a step closer to the window and watch carefully at what was going on. I look over at Caruso, who seemed to be watching a heart monitor screen. Several beeps go off and then are silenced.

"Six degree increase." Caruso speaks up and moves closer to Private Jenkins on the table. Edward stares at Caruso a moment, looking a little worried, but then looks back down at Private Jenkins and smiles.

"Okay, that's slightly more accelerated then I had anticipated, but you're fine. You're fine." Edward tries to reassure the Private. A few more beeps go off drawing Edward's attention to the monitor Caruso had been at moments ago.

"Sixty-eight degrees and holding." Caruso announces and looks back down at Private Jenkins from the screen. Edward finishes administering the substitute and removes the vial from the end of the tube.

"Okay, how do you feel?" Edward asks, rubbing the Private's arm where the tube disappeared under his skin.

"I feel fine s-" Suddenly, Private Jenkins turns his head to the right and expels his stomach's contents over the nurse standing there. He begins to convulse as Edward and the nurses try to hold him down. Beeping starts to go off as lights blink rapidly on the meters.

"Get twenty CCs of amatol!" Edward yells at Caruso. I see the Private's face begin to boil as he continues to thrash on the table. Caruso moves back to the table and begins to administer the amatol into Private Jenkins's arm. I take a quick look at Bromley to see he wasn't smiling anymore.

I look back through the window and see that almost immediately the boils on Private Jenkins go down. The beeping slows and the lights fade away, everything returning to normal. The room falls silent apart from small beeps and heavy breathing.

Suddenly Private Jenkins explodes in an array of bright red, splattering the window in front of me and making me jump, screaming slightly. I slap my hands over my mouth and try to steady my breathing.

I stare wide eyed at the blood on the window, watching as it slowly dripped down in beads. I spot, through an opening, where Private Jenkins had been on the table, but what was left were chunks of flesh and scrubs. Slowly I move my gaze to Edward. My hands fall slowly from my face and rest at my sides, shaking slightly.

I continue to stare at him, eyes wide and mouth agape. Slowly he looks to the window and at me. He knew I was scared by the expression I carry on my face. I beg through my eyes at him to tell me that this wasn't the substitute made from my blood. As I wait for him to shake his head though, I come to the conclusion that this was my blood and it had failed.

I hear voices around me in the small room, but I don't bother to look at who's speaking. Some of them were angry, some were disappointed, and some, like Bromley, were controlling their emotions and keeping a steady tone.

"Now what are we going to do!"

"We have plenty more substitutes to try."

"Surely this was just a mistake! Too much at one time."

"We're going to starve!"

"I assure you the others will work."

"And if they don't?"

"I assure you they will."

I feel a stony hand on my shoulder and look up at Bromley. He glares out the window at Edward, his breathing shallow and steady. He then starts pulling me away towards the door of the room. I stare at Edward, sensing that this was the end.

'Help me', I mouth to him and see him take a step towards the window as Bromley leads me out of the room.

"Take her back to her room and get her dinner." Bromley orders the nearest guard outside of the room. The guard grabs my upper arm and begins to pull me along towards my cell. Once there, I go to the corner and sit on the ground. I pull my knees to my chest and lay my chin on them.

The substitute had failed. This meant that I had failed. Bromley doesn't accept failure which meant that I was no longer useful to him. He would waste no time turning me into a human cow for milking and that frightened me.

I hear the door to my cell open and watch the guard walk in with a tray. He sets it on the ground and slides it over to me before standing up straight with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Eat." He orders and continues to stand there, staring at me. I pull the tray closer to me and eat some of the goop they called food. It wasn't the worst tasting thing in the world, but it was close. I take a few more bites and then set the tray back on the ground, sliding it back towards the guard.

He picks it up from the ground and walks out of the cell, slamming the door shut. I stare at the door a moment longer, feeling my eyes start to sting and my vision become blurry. I can't help but start crying. I felt so helpless against my ominous future.

I lay my head on my knees again. I continue to let out soft cries as tears roll down my cheeks and seep into my jeans. I quiet myself down as I start to feel light headed and my vision becoming scattered. I place a hand against my forehead and close my eyes.

I feel myself slipping on the wall to the left until my shoulder collides with the other wall, keeping me sitting up. I open my eyes to see the room spinning. Slowly I fall asleep from whatever Bromley must have had someone put in my food. I begin to pray that I would die in my sleep so I would never have to wake up to this nightmare again.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you guys for the wonderful reviews! Enjoy!

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

_"Rose..."_ A voice calls out to me softly in the darkness I was surrounded by. It seems so familiar to me, but I can't place it. I open my eyes to a blaring light and quickly close them again. They water and sting, making me close them tighter.

I try again to open my eyes, slower this time to get used to the light. I stare up at the light blue sky that was filled with little puffs of white clouds. I look about me to find I was lying on the warm ground. There was grass beneath me, tickling my skin with its slick coolness.

I look back to the sky and watch the clouds as they pass slowly overhead. I couldn't remember how I had gotten here or where here was even. It felt familiar to me, but I couldn't remember ever having been here before.

Maybe everything had been just a terrible dream. Maybe now I was awake and safe from harm. Maybe I had just been rescued and brought to this wonderful place. Maybe I was far, far away, where Charles Bromley would never get me. Maybe my prayers had been answered. Maybe I had died and this was Heaven.

Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just a cruel dream. Maybe I would soon wake up to find I was being placed in the farm for milking. Maybe I already was. Maybe all of it had been some strange dream, my mind protecting me from the sheer horror. There were just too many maybes'.

I sit up and see that I am in a field of cosmos flowers whose colors ranged from red to white, hitting almost every warm color in between. There was yellow, crest red, day dream, Gloria, candy stripe, psycho white, seashell, Tetra Versailles, gold, purple, orange, and even lemon. Their fragrance filled the air and tickled my nose as they sway gently in the breeze that grazes my skin.

I look to the left at the large Eastern white spruce trees that outlined the field and stood like guards, watching over it. I stand up from the ground and look down at myself. I wasn't in the pink monstrosity Bromley had put me into; whether he was real or not. I wasn't sure anymore. The dress I now wore was nicer; simpler. It was a light blue sundress that stopped right below my knees.

The shoes I had been wearing were gone and now I was barefoot, feeling the cool grass between my toes. I could feel my hair on my back and remember the pink ribbon. I lift a hand to my head and feel for it, but find none. In its place was a headband that sat in the middle, keeping my bangs separate from the rest of my hair.

I look behind me towards the middle of the field. There stood an old weeping willow tree that created an area of shade beneath its large branches. I walk to it and stand beneath its drooping branches, looking up. Sunlight flickers down at me every once in a while through the branches, dancing on my face.

I drop my head and peer out over the field I stood in. I couldn't tell whether or not it ever ended. The flowers and pine trees seemed to go on forever till they met the blue sky on the horizon. Then they all melded together in an array of blue and yellow.

I walk back out into the sunlight and sit down amongst the flowers, crossing my legs like a pretzel. I look at the flowers as they sway in the breeze and then pick one of the candy stripe cosmos. I raise it to my nose and smell it, twirling it between my fingers as I smile softly at it.

I place the flower in my hair by my ear and lie back on the ground. I watch the clouds create pictures in the sky as they pass and sigh contently.

Everything felt real. Everything looked real, smelled real...where ever this was...it was perfect. If it was a dream I wish I would never awaken from it. I didn't want to go back to that nightmare. It just wouldn't be fair...

_"Rose..."_ The voice calls out to me again as softly as the first time. I open my eyes and stare up at the branches of the weeping willow I was lying beneath. The sun dances across my face through the branches as I remember taking up shelter here when the sun had fallen for the night and was replaced by the moon,_ "Rose..."_

I sit up slowly and look around, searching for the source of the voice. Again I couldn't see anyone and again the voice sounded so familiar to me. I could remember the face of the person it belonged to; blonde hair, emerald green eyes, lightly freckled fair skin like my own, but I had no name to go along with it.

I stand up from the ground and walk out into the sun. It warmed my skin and made me smile as I stretch myself and yawn. I look up at the sky that was again filled with little white clouds. I look over at the pine trees to my left and wonder what was behind them.

Maybe there was nothing. Maybe they just simply went on forever. Whether or not either was the case, I was going to find out.

I walk closer to the pines and stop before them, staring into what looks like a forest of them. I couldn't see an end. I knew forests though and I knew that standing at the edge of any of them, peering in, didn't mean there** wasn't** an end.

I take a confident step in, twigs snapping beneath my feet and then another and then another. The ground was covered by pine needles and twigs. I don't know how far I had walked, but suddenly everything changed.

The trees were no longer pines and cluttered together. At some point I had walked into a forest of dogwood trees. The colors were so pigmented, so rich, and so varied that I didn't think they were real until I touched one. There was pink, yellow, red, and white. Here and there was a flower; a daisy or a daffodil.

The sun sparkles down from the sky, in little rays and beams, and kisses my skin as I walk past the trees. There were no more pine needles, but deep, lush, green grass beneath my feet now. I continue on, walking around the trees, and picking up every flower that I see as I go.

I hear the sound of running water in the air and walk towards where it was coming from. I step out from the forest and stand in soft soil that held tiny pebbles within it. To my left was a waterfall, dropping from a tall cliff into a river that flows past me and into another set of pine trees.

I could see on the cliff there were more trees, larger trees then the dogwoods. I look back at the river and spot red things floating along, bobbing up and down. I walk closer and kneel beside the river bed, setting down my bouquet. The water was full of these red things, just bobbing and spinning along down stream. I reach out to one as it passes and pluck it from the water; an apple.

I quickly wipe it clean with my dress and then take a bite out of it, suddenly feeling a pang of extreme hunger. It was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted. I look into the water, chewing my apple, and spot fish swimming around beneath the surface. They all look similar to each other, kind of grayish and short with beady eyes.

I sit down and let my feet dangle into the water as I take another bite from the apple I held. I look around the little clearing, declaring that there was nothing really here except for the river and waterfall. I look back at the waterfall and stare at it long and hard.

Like the field it seems familiar. The sound of the rushing water, the apple trees up top watching over the fall, the fish that tickled my feet as they brushed past...Everything was familiar. It was staring me in the face and yet I couldn't see what it wanted me to know, what I was supposed to know...

The last two days just seemed to pass by slowly, but I didn't mind. It was nice and peaceful. This morning I had woken up and there had been no voice calling me, no familiar face to greet me; nothing but the scent of the flowers and the warmth of the sun on my skin...

For the moment I was back in the field, sitting, making a halo of flowers with the daises, daffodils, and cosmos. I was comfortable and warm and safe in this field of flowers. I knew that I remembered it from somewhere. I knew I did, but I didn't really care anymore to think about how or why.

I look up from the halo, tying the ends of it together, and look out at the sun that was beginning to set. The sky was slowly turning an array of warm colors as it began to disappear on the horizon. It brought a smile to my face as I remember the waterfall, hidden in a world of its own behind the pines and dogwoods.

I place the halo on my head and pull my knees to my chest as I watch the last of the day disappears. It was beautiful and comforting, but it also made me feel lonely. I hadn't seen anyone else around the field or the forest or the waterfall and the voice had disappeared, leaving me to the flowers and trees.

I thought back to my cell, whether it had been real or not, and think of Edward. At least there, as rare as it had been, I had someone to visit me and talk with. We always found something to talk about; science, books, even politics as strange as that was for me, seeing as all the leaders were vampires. He had treated me like an equal and was so sweet and so polite.

This field was nice and it comforted me, but I missed him more then I missed everything else; more then my life, my friends...even my family. I missed him and the world I had once belonged to, as frightening and as horrible it had been. At least there I wasn't alone. At least there I had someone who believed in the same things I did, who understood everything I felt to such a degree that we seemed in sync with each other.

Edward had made me feel like, in some twisted way, I had actually belonged in that dark, horrifying nightmare. He made me feel like I belonged in _his_ nightmare; _his_ dark world.

"I miss Edward." I whisper softly and sigh heavily.

"_Rosaline…"_ My ears perk up at the voice, not having been the same one from before. I look around to find the owner, but realize that I am alone still. The trees and flowers blow gently in the cool night's breeze. Several of the flowers are picked up from the ground and tossed about in the air, _"...wake up..."_

"Wake up?" I ask back as I stand from the ground. I knew whose voice this was. It was his; Edward, "Edward, where are you?"

I was asleep? But how could I feel hunger? How come I felt tired? And why did I feel lonely? It didn't make sense. I look to my right and then to my left in search of him.

_"Rosaline, wake up."_ The voice calls again as softly as the first time. I look behind me at the weeping willow sitting in the darkness and slowly walk towards it, _"Wake up..."_

"Are you here?" I ask as I walk around the trunk of the tree and return to my original spot beneath it. I stare out across the moonlit field of flowers, "Edward?"

_"Rosaline...!" _I feel the breeze suddenly pick up, tossing my hair gently. I walk out from beneath the tree and start heading for the horizon, _"Please Rosaline..."_

I stop and look around me, feeling as though I was going no where. I look up at the sky where the full moon had been and see it waning right before my eyes. Slowly it became nothing and I was left in darkness, the stars twinkling above me.

I hear a loud snap come from the trees to my right and cautiously walk closer. Another loud snap makes me stop in my tracks. I begin to back up, seeing a shadow move within the trees.

"Edward...?" I ask quietly, unsure if it were him. A softer snap sounds from somewhere closer by, making me take larger steps back. I see more shadows move in the trees and know that it was something else; something I **should **be afraid of.

_"Please Rosaline..." _Edward's voice calls. I keep walking backwards, my heart beginning to race, and pass the willow. I look to it and see a dark figure hide behind it, its eyes glowing yellow as it slowly bares its gleaming white fangs, _"Rosaline, wake up...!"_

I pick up my feet and turn, running towards the other set of pine trees, heading for the waterfall. I can barely see where I'm going and end up tripping, falling to the forest floor. I quickly stand back up and continue running, hearing twigs snap behind me.

"_Rosaline..."_ I feel the branches of the dogwood trees slap me violently in the face, scratching me and drawing warm blood. I hear footsteps behind me, dozens of those things following me.

"Edward! Help me!" I scream out into the darkness, fear pulsating through my veins. I'm greeted by a root tripping me, sending me to the ground. I hear another twig snap and then another, the sounds coming from either side of me. I pull myself up and run, the shadows passing by where I had been on the ground a moment ago.

_"Rosaline...!"_

"Edward! They're coming!" I scream out again, tears rushing to my eyes. I break out from the forest and skid, coming to a stop by the river bed. I hear snaps from the forest and feel my tears spill, rolling down my cheeks.

"_Wake up...!"_

I try to think of where to go and then look to the waterfall where the river met the spill. I run as quickly as I can along the river bed and then dive in, swimming towards the foam. I swim and swim, getting closer to the darkness ahead.

"_Rosaline, you have to wake up...!"_

I pass by the fall and come up for air, finding myself in a little cave. I swim towards the shelf of stone ahead and pull myself up. I push myself as flat as I can to the stone wall and pull my knees up to my chest.

My teeth chatter and I shake violently from the cold. It was impossible to see inside the cave, so I close my eyes and hide my face in my arms on top of my knees. Tears fall from my eyes and leave warm trails on my arms.

"_Rosaline…please…wake up…!_

"HOW!" I scream out angrily into the darkness, "TELL ME HOW!"

"_Wake up, Rosaline."_

I start to sob, my body racking with each intake of breath. My Heaven had turned into Hell and now I was stuck in it, those things coming to get me. I had cornered myself inside a cold, wet cave, and there was no rescue coming.

"Wake me up, Edward. Please..." I beg softly and look towards the mouth of the cave where the water fell like a drape. I spot shadow behind it and shake my head, begging for help. I head pushes through the falling water, eyes glowing, and teethe bared in a sadistic grin, "WAKE ME UP!"


	9. Chapter 9

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

**-Edward's POV-**

"Rosaline…" I brush back a few strands of golden hair from Rosaline's face, seeing her face was flushed. I had been trying to wake her for minutes, but nothing. I was beginning to worry that she had fallen into a coma.

"Edward...help me..." She whispers back, the first sign that she wasn't in a coma. This was good. Now if only I could get her awake.

"Rosaline..." I whisper back and place both my hands against her cheeks, heat pouring from them like a stove.

"Edward, they're coming..." I narrow my eyes at her words. She was dreaming, I could tell that much, but what about? What was coming? Suddenly she starts to breathe heavier, her heart racing as tears fall from her closed eyes.

"Wake up..." I shake her head lightly. I watch her eyes dart back and forth beneath her eyelids. Her hands start to shake, perspiring. She was having a nightmare. This was an adverse affect to whatever drug Bromley had given her, "Rosaline, you have to wake up...!"

I place my hands on her shoulders, shaking her fervently. She had to wake up now or she might never wake up again. Bromley was supposed to have given her a psychedelic hallucinogen, but this was something else.

I place two fingers to her wrist and feel her pulse sky rocket. Her heart was beating too fast, to the point she was at risk for cardiac arrest. I had known Bromley would give her something. He never liked the humans' conscious when he put them into the farm, but whatever it was that he gave her, he had given her too much.

"Rosaline...please...wake up...!"

"HOW! TELL ME HOW!" She suddenly screams out, startling me. I take her head between my cool hands again and hold her head up. I hold one eye open to see her eye blood red and pupil dilated. I let her eye go and slap her face gently.

"Wake up, Rosaline." I call a little louder and slap her face again. I watch a tear roll down her face.

"Wake me up, Edward…" She begs softly as more tears roll down from her closed eyes, "WAKE ME UP!"

I put my hands on her upper arms and shake her wildly, hoping to wake her from her unnatural sleep. Suddenly her eyes snap open. She looks around fervently, seeing she wasn't where she thought she was any longer.

Kneeling before her I must have seemed like a blur of black and white because her eyes darted from left to right, unable to focus, or maybe thinking she was still in her dream. I see her start to doze off again, but I shake her hard against the concrete wall behind her.

"Rosaline, you have to stay awake. We have to go. Someone's bound to have heard you screaming." I tell her and cup her face again, forcing her to look at me. I could see now that both of her eyes were bloodshot and pupils dilated.

"Go?" She asks half awake and tries to force her eyes to focus on me. I nod my head at her and try to get her to stand, "Go where? Where's Edward?"

"I am Edward and we're leaving. I'm getting you out of here." I help her to stand on her wobbly feet.

"I have to find Edward..." She mumbles and takes two steps before legs buckle, the drugs still prominent in her system. I catch her and help her stand up straight again. She tries to walk out of my hold on her again.

"Stop." I tug on her arm, stopping her from moving forward anymore, "Hold on."

I quickly pick her up, her arms and legs dangling loosely. Her head falls back and I see her struggle to keep her eyes open. I see her squint at the bright lights above us as we pass by each of them and walk out the door of her cell.

"Where are you taking me?" She asks, tears rushing to her eyes as I carry her hurriedly through another door and start down a flight of stairs. I take a quick look down at her, sorry that I had let this happen

"My house for now." I reply softly as she bounces up and down in my arms, "You'll be safe there for now."

"No..." She shakes her head as several tears escape her eyes, "Leave me alone...!"

She begins to cry softly and tries to will her body to move out of my hold. Her movements are extremely sluggish and unsuccessful against me. Her head falls limp again as she stares at the ceiling lights that pass by. Tears run from her eyes and down the side of her head into her hair.

"Edward...I want Edward...! Please..." She begs as a cry escapes her lips.

"It's me, Rosaline. I'm right here." I whisper to her as I grab another door knob with my hand beneath her knees. She mumbles 'no' over and over again, begging for _me_ despite **me** being right there, "Shhh. You have to be quiet. Please, be quiet. Just for a moment longer."

I hear my footsteps smack against cement and hear the rushing of cars as they pass by in the streets. I unlock the car and then place Rosaline on her feet a moment to open the passenger door. She leans back against the car, struggling to keep herself up.

"I want Edward. Please, just take me to Edward…please..." She rambles, her head obviously foggy and heavy with the way it bobs, "I have to tell him..."

"Rosaline, get inside the car." I command and help her to sit in the seat. I shut the door and run around the front of the car. Rosaline rolls her head from side to side, calling out my name. I open the driver door, take off my suit jacket, and hop inside. I toss my jacket over Rosaline like a blanket and pull out my keys.

I start the car, the engine roaring to life, and the small television in the dash pops on to the last station I had been watching. I pull out of the Bromley Marks parking lot and hit the road, driving as fast as I can home.

Rosaline rolls her head and looks at the small screen in the dash. I can tell she can't make out what is happening on the screen, all the lights and colors probably blending together in swirls. She suddenly starts to cry again and rolls her head away from the flashing lights.

_"Violent scenes in London today as police clash with protestors over the conflict over the new blood rationing scheme. Demonstrators argue that the blood allowances are too strict. The government bodies are failing to provide alternatives. Similar scenes have been occurring across Asia and the Middle East in recent times."_

"Oh Edward..." Rosaline moans out and shakes her head from right to left. I look over at her, pulling out a cigarette from my suit jacket. I stick it in between my lips and light it, opening the back windows a crack so the smoke wouldn't blow towards her.

"What?" I ask and she looks to me, her eyes struggling to focus. I look back at the road and then at her for a long moment, cigarette hanging out of the corner of my mouth, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Edward...he refuses to eat..." She gives a small laugh and then shakes her head, new tears stinging her eyes, "And if he doesn't eat he'll turn into one of those things...! His ears are already pointed…! I should have told him...! I need to tell him about everything...! I have to..."

My eyes narrow at her a moment before I look back out at the road. I scratch the side of my head, feeling the tip of my right ear in the process. I stop and rub my ear with my thumb and fingers, a prominent point that hadn't been there the last time I checked. I was making me worry.

I pull down the visor and look at the screen. I turn my head a little to get a better view and see she was right. I did have a pointed ear. I continue to stare at the screen until I hear beeping ahead of me. I look out the windshield and see I had drifted into the next lane with a car coming straight at us.

I quickly turn the wheel sharply as Rosaline lets out a scream, hanging on to her door for dear life. The other car swerves and skids, smashing into a fenced in breaker for the neighborhood behind us. I hit the breaks, sending Rosaline head first into the dash.

"Oh fuck!" I curse, the car coming to a stop. I turn off the car and lean over Rosaline, pushing her back in her seat, "I should have put your fucking seatbelt on!"

I curse a few more times and look over her head, not seeing any blood or smelling any. There's a bump and it was slowly becoming black and blue, but she seemed alright. I open my door to go and check on the occupants of the other car to make sure they were alright.

I look over at the other car that had smashed into the breaker, seeing it smoke and sparks flying in all directions. I jog over and toss my cigarette to the ground. I see the driver door open and a woman steps out.

"You alright?" I ask as I see the outline of a crossbow in her hand. I put my arms in front of my face instinctively, an arrow piercing through my left forearm, "Ow! Ow, what're you doing?"

"Get back!" The woman steps out of the car fully and loads another arrow, aiming it at me. I put my hands up in front of me, trying to get her to not shoot again.

"Whoa, wait a minute. What're you-"

"Don't come any closer!" The woman calls out as other start climbing out of the truck. A man gets out from behind the driver seat.

"Shoot him again!" He calls out and reaches a hand back into the truck for someone to take.

"No, don't," I start, but fall silent as I examine them all, "...you're human. You're all human."

"Shoot!" The man calls out again.

"No! **Don't** shoot me again!" I shout back, "Don't I'm a-"

Sirens filled the night air, causing me to look back at where my car had stopped. I inwardly curse for leaving my door open and look back at the humans.

"Listen. I-I can help you." I start, looking to each of them, "Come on! Come get in my car!"

I turn from them and run back towards my car. I stop when I realize they weren't following and look back at them.

"I'll help you! Come on! Let me help you! Get in my car!" I urge them to follow me. They all look at each other and then follow behind me. I open the back door nearest me and the man and a teenage girl get into the back. I close the door and lean into the driver seat, hitting the daytime driving button.

The windows go black and the screens pop on to help when you're driving. Movement catches my eye and so I look over at Rosaline, who had begun to stir.

"My head..." I look over at Rosaline, who moves her head right and left as if to wake herself up. The woman with the cross bow moves closer and looks at Rosaline, her eyes widening.

"She's human!" She assesses, looking back at me with an incredulously glare. I stare at her a moment and go to reply, but Rosaline's voice stops me.

"Edward...what's going on?" I look back down at her and lean closer to her. I place a hand on her head and move some hair out of her face. My fingers graze the bump on her forehead, making her wince, "Ow, that hurts...! What happened?"

"Sorry. We had a little accident." I apologize as the sirens get louder. Slowly I back out of the car and watch the red and blue lights grow brighter as the cars get closer. I look back in the car at each of them, "Try to keep quiet for a few minutes."

I grab a hold of the arrow in my forearm. I rip it out, growling like a dog, and throw it far away.

"Edward...?" I look back at Rosaline in the car to see her at least half awake.

"Yeah?" I ask softly. She stares at me and then her gaze falls on my shirt that was stained with blood. She quickly becomes more awake and leans closer, outstretching a hand toward my arm.

"Oh my God, what happened to you?" She touches me gently and then stops, looking about herself, "Whose car am I in?"

"Mine. Now, keep quite for a moment." I look at her a moment longer and see her nod her head. I grab my suit jacket from Rosaline and pull it on, then shut the door. I wave down the cops and they pull up. They roll down their window and look me over.

"Are you okay sir?" One of the cops asks, looking me up and down.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." I answer, fixing my jacket.

"Did you get a good look at them sir?" The cop nods his head towards the empty truck across the road.

"Uh, no. Not really. You know it happened so fast and they didn't wait around to see how I was so." I reply, looking over at the smashed truck.

"We believe they may be human sir. Did you see where they went?" The cop asks. I look around again, pretending to try and remember. I run a hand over my mouth and point in a random direction.

"I think they went that way." The cop nods at my answer and rolls up his window, driving off. Once the car was gone the humans jumped out of the car.

"Thank you." The woman with the cross bow speaks up as the others run in the opposite direction of the cops.

"Are you okay?" I ask and she nods once, beginning to run after the others. I run a hand over my mouth again and walk back to my car.

"Happy birthday Ed!" She calls back as she and the others disappear into the night. I open the driver door and look inside at Rosaline.

"Rosaline?" I call to her and climb inside. I shut my door and lean over to her hunched form, leaning against the door.

"Edward..." She speaks up and sits up straight in her seat. I could see her brow sweating and see that her face was flushed again. I place a hand against her cheek, feeling her fever as if it were a burning flame. She grabs my hand and presses it firmer against her cheek, "...feels so good..."

"That's because you're burning up. I have to get you home." I respond and quickly start the car. I get us back onto the road and drive as fast as I can without drawing any more attention to us.


	10. Chapter 10

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

**-Edward's POV-**

I pull into to the Bromley Marks Estates: Gate 4 and head down to the end of the street. It was still dark out and it seemed as though no one in the neighborhood was home yet, though there were lights on everywhere you turned. Every house looked exactly the same; same design, same coloring, same everything down to the last brick.

Rosaline had passed out again, mumbling about this and that; having something to tell me, wanting to run a stake through Bromley's heart, and a man named Joshua. I had never heard her mention a Joshua before. Not in any of the conversations we had had, but hearing the way her tone was every time she said his name made me grit my teeth.

I pull the car into the garage as the warning for daylight comes through the neighborhood's speakers. I turn off the engine and unlock the doors, leaning back in my seat for a moment. I close my eyes and sigh heavily, enjoying the silence. It had certainly been a long day for me. The paper work, the preparations, the testing, and the rescue had taken a lot out of me.

I look over at Rosaline and click my teeth together. I was a little bothered that Bromley had her at the testing. There was no need for her to be there or for her to see what had happened. But Bromley obviously anticipated the outcome of Private Jenkins and wanted an audience for the spectacle that still had the capacity for fear.

I reach a hand out to her and brush back a few strands of her hair. It was warm and it seemed to glitter as I let it fall from my fingers. It reminded me of the sun; warm, bright, inviting...I place a cool hand on her shoulder, feeling it hot from the fever, and shake her gently, calling out to her.

"Where are we?" Rosaline asks as she opens her eyes. She looks around the dark garage and then rolls her head to look at me.

"My house." I reply and look her over. Her head was purplish around the bump and it looked like she might have gotten scratched by something above her eyebrow, but no blood. I scold myself for being so reckless with her. Perhaps the only human in this side of the world with such a rare blood type and I almost get her killed in a car accident.

I see her sit up and open her door, her movement slow and forced. The drug must still be in her system. I watch her as she drags her legs out of the car and leans on her knees, taking a deep breath.

"Wait there. I'll come around and get you." I open my door and grab my briefcase from the back before stepping out of the car. I close my door and walk around to the other side. I help her stand and close her door, coming back to her to wrap an arm around her waist for support.

"What's wrong with me?" Rosaline asks as we walk into the house. I take off my hat and hang it up, pulling out a cigarette from my pocket. She leans her side against the wall and looks over at me.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I know it's some sort of drug that Bromley gave you." I reply and pull a cigarette out with my mouth from the box. I wait for her to walk past me before lighting up and then follow her into my kitchen. I flip on the lights and the TV goes on to the last station I was watching, the news blaring.

She leans against the island in the middle of the kitchen as I stare down at the mess I had on it. I set my briefcase down on the counter behind me and take a deep breath. I sigh and pull the cigarette out of my mouth. I look over at her and see her swaying from side to side, unable to keep her balance. I take a drag of my cigarette and watch her as her eyes come to rest on me.

"May I sit?" She asks as I release the smoke from my body. I nod my head, surprised that she thought she had to ask and more so that I hadn't even offered. I was usually on top of things like that.

"Yeah of course. Sit down anywhere." I reply and run a hand through my hair while I think of what to say next, "Are you...are you hungry?"

"No, but may I have a glass of water?" She asks and moves over to the kitchen table. She takes a seat and folds her arms on the glass tabletop, laying her head on them. I quickly get her a glass of tap water and set it down before her. She opens her eyes and smiles up at me, lifting her head and taking a long gulp, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I walk back to the fridge and open it, pulling out some leftovers for myself. I walk back to the table with a spoon and sit down in a seat next to her, beginning to eat.

"So you do eat. Just not humans though." She comments, watching me carefully as I ate. It hadn't occurred to me not to eat in front of her. I set my spoon down and look up from the dark red colored liquid us vampires called soup.

"I can put it away if..." I cut myself short, being unable to think of how to word what she must be feeling; disgusted, fearful, repulsed, all these seemed fine, but wouldn't do. She shakes her head and takes a sip of her water.

"Nah. It looks like tomato soup to me," She asks and leans closer to take a sniff of it, "but smells kind of like road kill or something. What's in it?"

"It basically is road kill. There's pig and cow. Some horse too I think." I reply and take another spoon full. She nods her head and makes and agreeable face, taking up her glass again.

A few minutes pass by in silence apart from the TV. I finish eating my 'soup' and stand from the table, walking to the sink to set my bowl down. I look back over at Rosaline, wanting to say something to her, but I couldn't think of anything. So I resorted to watching her as she looked around my house from her seat. She paid special attention to the pictures I had on the walls, smiling at some of them, even letting a small laugh escape her.

"You have a really nice home. A little dark for me though." She looks back at me and smiles brightly, setting her glass down on the table. I nod my head, agreeing with her and look around myself. She was right. It was pretty dark, but unfortunately I couldn't have anything brighter.

I see her start to play with the beads on the dress she wore, plucking at them as if trying to get them off. I run my tongue over my fangs unconsciously and then look towards the living room.

"That looks really nice on you." I speak up, leaning on the island. She looks up from the beads and over at me, smiling sarcastically.

"Thank you. It was a _gift_ from Charles Bromley." She nearly growls out Bromley's name as if she were one of us, making me laugh. I run a hand over my mouth and then shove my hands into my pants pockets.

"Everything might be a little big, but do you want to borrow some clothes?" I ask, trying to think of what I possibly had that would even come close to fitting her.

"Yes please." She replies with a small laugh. I nod my head and then motion towards the stairs passed the living room.

"Come on." I walk passed her and through the living room. She follows behind, still not quite steady on her feet, "You alright?"

"Just a little dizzy." She replies and follows me up the stairs. We walk into my bedroom and I go straight to my drawers, searching for a shirt she could wear. She stands in the doorway, leaning against the frame and examining my room.

"Is this alright?" I pull out a dark blue t-shirt and hold it up for her to see.

"Blue; my favorite color." She steps inside the room and takes the shirt from me. She kicks off her shoes by the end of my bed and slips the shirt over the top of the dress, sliding the straps off her shoulders beneath it.

"Pants..." I talk to myself and move to another drawer. I find a pair of black lounge pants and hand them to her. She pulls them on under the skirt of her dress and then goes to pull the dress down. I shove my hands into my pockets and watch her, seeing she was having trouble, "Want some help?"

"Please." She says through an exasperated laugh. She moves closer to me and turns around so her back was facing me. I slip my hands up the back of the shirt, feeling for the top of the dress, "Just rip the S.O.B."

As I was told, I rip the dress down to her lower back. My fingers graze her skin for a brief moment, a spark of electricity seeming to surge through them. I take my hands out from under the shirt as quick as I can and take a step back to give her some room.

She lets the dress fall to the floor in a heap of pink and then steps out of it. She picks it up from the floor and rolls it into a ball, smiling up at me. My clothes were big on her, but they would work for now until I could get something else for her.

"Thank you." She moves a hand to her back and scratches a moment. She looks up at me and yawns, "Now what?"

"Uh, if you want you can lie down. I've got a couple of things to do around here." I answer and scratch the side of my head. Rosaline's eyes widen a little and I look to where her eyes had drifted to. I look at my arm and see the blood stain from the arrow on my shirt sleeve.

"Oh your arm." She takes my arm and rolls up my sleeve. She runs her fingers over the spot where the arrow had once been, but was no more. I see her face turn from worry to sarcastic irritation. She drums her fingers on my arm and looks up at me, "I keep forgetting. You're a vampire. You heal quicker then the rest of us."

She rolls my sleeve back down and lets my arm go. She runs a hand through her hair and then brushes it over one shoulder.

"Is there a possibility that I could take a shower?" She asks and then laughs, shaking her head at herself, "Now that I'm in your clean clothes?"

I nod my head and head towards the bathroom. I turn everything on for her and pull out a towel, setting it on the counter. She walks to the bathroom door and leans against the frame.

"Hope you like Irish Springs." I say as I hand her an unopened bar of soap.

"They still make Irish Springs?" She gives a small laugh and walks into the bathroom. I walk out and turn back for a moment.

"I'll be downstairs if you need anything. Feel free to use the bed and TV."

"Okay." She smiles and opens the bar of soap, but stops, "Edward?"

"Yeah?" I turn back again and look at her, thinking I had forgotten something. She sets the soap on the counter and moves closer wrapping her arms around my neck. I freeze, not knowing what I should do. Slowly I wrap my arms around her, breathing in her scent, listening to the sound of her heart beating in her chest.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for rescuing me." She whispers in my ear and then pulls back, kissing my cheek. I nod my head and close the bathroom door, walking to the door of my bedroom.

I stop for a moment and then head back to the bathroom door with a question burning in my mind. I knock a few times and hear her singing to herself, realizing she couldn't hear me. I open the door slightly and peek inside. I see her figure in the shower behind the frosted glass of the doors in the reflection of the mirror over the sink.

For a moment I'm frozen, caught up in watching her shadow and listening to her sweet voice. I shake myself free from my trance and clear my throat.

"Rosaline?" I call to her, leaning my head on the doorframe.

"Come on in." She calls back, turning her singing into humming instead. I take a deep breath and gently knock my head against the doorframe once before walking into the warm, steamed bathroom. I didn't usually ask about other people's personal lives. It just wasn't like me, but this girl intrigued me so much that I just had to know everything I could about her.

"Can I ask you something?" I start, trying to build enough courage to ask my question. I stand at the counter, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

"Of course." She gives a small laugh.

"Who's Joshua?" I blurt the question out and hear the bathroom go silent apart from the water running in the shower. I look up from the counter and see that she had froze mid-stroke of washing her hair. Slowly her arms fall from her hair and I see her look down at the ground, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of. It's none of my business."

"He's family." Rosaline's voice stops me from walking out the bathroom door, "My brother actually."

"You're brother." I repeat to myself softly and I look back up at her reflection, watching her carefully, "Is he older or younger?"

"Older by six years." She replies. I see her sit on the ground of the shower and lean her back against the glass, pulling her knees to her chest.

"Is he human?" I ask slowly, turning around from the counter to look directly at the shower doors. She shakes her head.

"He's nothing anymore." I knew what her answer meant. He was dead so it didn't matter whether or he was human or vampire, "Before he died he was a vampire. You remind me of him."

"How so?" I ask, becoming more intrigued. I lean back against the counter and cross my arms over my chest.

"He wouldn't drink human blood either. I tried to get him to, but he refused over and over again." She replies with a small laugh, "He said that it wasn't right. That he felt if he drank human blood it would mean he was giving in to something that would steal his humanity. Back then no one knew about the affects of blood deprivation."

"Why did you try to make him drink it? You're a human." I ask not understanding why a human would try and make a vampire drink human blood. She falls silent again and I can hear her sigh. She shakes her head and leans it against the glass.

"I tried to get him to drink it because he was my brother. There was plenty of human blood and I was afraid of what would happen if he didn't." She pauses and hits her head against the glass a few times, "I couldn't help but question what would happen. Would he starve? Would he go crazy from not having any? I was more worried about him hurting himself or someone else then him drinking a little bit of human blood every once in a while."

"But he wouldn't."

"Nope, not even my blood. I think he was more against that idea then any other because he thought that he would get hooked and end up killing me." I hear her click her teeth, a sign that there was more going on inside of her head, "He did good for a while. Lived off of cows and pigs, but then he started to change. He got this temper. He didn't really care about anything he used to. He got these dark circles under his eyes and his ears became pointed."

Instinctively I touch one of my ears, feeling the points. I let my hand drop and cross my arms over my chest again.

"One night he came home real nasty. He was so angry about nothing. I remember I was in the kitchen making myself dinner and he walked in, snarling about every little thing in the world. He slammed a door shut and I accidentally cut my fingers." I could see her behind the glass looking at a scar on her fingers of her left hand.

"What did he do?" I ask, finding myself engrossed in her story.

"He came back out of the room slowly, kind of gliding across the floor in a creepy way. He stood at the opposite side of the kitchen and just stared at my hand, at my blood, and then suddenly lunged at me." She falls silent again and runs a hand through her wet hair, sighing heavily, "I ran. He chased. Then I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my ankle and dislocated my left shoulder. When he saw how scared I was and realized what he was trying to do, he went crazy. He doused himself with lighter fluid and set himself on fire right in front of me."

The bathroom falls silent again. I didn't know what to say to her. What could I say to her? Sorry? What would that do? It certainly wasn't going to bring him back.

"You know when he first turned he disappeared for years on end. I was only thirteen or fourteen then. I barely remember it. My parents were so afraid of him and he was always so worried he was going to hurt someone he loved all the time. So, he tried to stay away, thinking it was for the best." She starts softly and turns her head to the side as if to look at me behind the frosted glass, "When I was seventeen my parents died, killed by a vampire. I went out and purposely tried to get bit after that. I thought it would bring him back; that it would solve all our problems. It probably would of, but I then I found out that I couldn't turn."

"I'm-"

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault." She stands up from the shower floor and steps into the water again, "It's his..."

"Whose?" I ask, my eyebrows knitting together in confusion. I watch her shampoo her hair and then rinse it out. She turns off the water and wrings her hair of excess water. She opens the door a little and outstretches an arm. I look around me and find the towel I had placed out for her. I grab it and hand it to her.

"Charles Bromley." She closes the door again and wraps the towel around her. I lean against the glass, arms crossed over my chest.

"How is it his fault?" I ask as she opens the doors again. She steps out and I feel myself go rigid, the sight of her...intoxicating of sorts. Beads of water dripped down from her hair and trailed along the side of her neck. As if that wasn't enough, they then curved and disappeared underneath the towel and between her breasts.

She walks past me and over to the counter where she had placed the clothes I gave her to wear. She pulls on the pants under the towel and then the shirt over it. She undoes the towel and uses it to dry her hair. She folds it and then sets it on the counter.

She stares at herself in the mirror for a long moment and then runs a hand through her hair, trying to rid of any knots. She turns to face me after another moment and leans back against the counter. She takes a deep breath and licks her lips. It was an obvious sign that she didn't want to tell me, but that she felt she needed to.

"Is this what you just had to tell me?" I ask softly, my yes never leaving hers. She matches my gaze and then looks down at the floor.

"I thought I had said that in my head." She mumbles and then runs a hand through her damp hair.

"What is it, Rosaline?" I encourage and fall quiet. She shakes her head as a tear falls from her eyes and rolls down her cheek. Whatever it was, it was bad, "Rosaline..."


	11. Chapter 11

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

_~Rosaline's POV~_

"Charles Bromley...is the vampire that turned my brother and killed my parents." I reply and look up from the ground to meet his gaze once more. I can see the honest curiosity swirling and mixing with the molten gold in his eyes, "He's also the first vampire I..."

He watches me for a moment and then narrows his eyes in question at my silence. I knew that he already had an idea of what I was going to say. That made it worse. I look back down at the floor, my eyes darting right and left, as if trying to think of how to word my next phrase.

"That you what?" He speaks up, seeing that I wasn't about to answer so soon. I close my eyes a moment and then look up at him, ashamed of my past actions.

"He's the first vampire I tried to have change me." I watch Edward, seeing he was struggling with what to say to me. What was there to say? I'm sorry? What in the world would that do? I shake my head, "Don't Edward. Please."

I cut him off before he could say it. I could feel my chest constrict, my emotions getting the better of me. I shake my head and look down at the tiled floor of the bathroom.

"Please, don't say it. Don't be sorry for me." I feel my sorrow turn into anger and then hate. I grit my teeth and clench my jaw, my eyes burning a hole in the floor beneath me. I growl, "It's his entire fault. If he hadn't..."

I run a hand through my hair and pull on each section so hard it felt like I would rip it out. I close my eyes, feeling tears beginning again. I didn't want to cry. Not in front of anyone.

"Rosaline?" Edward calls out to me softly and I can feel his eyes follow my every movement. I turn around and stare down at the counter, playing with a corner of the towel that laid there as my mind drifts away, "Please look at me."

My breathing becomes slow and shallow as I feel my eyes glaze over. I didn't want to talk about the subject anymore with him or with anyone ever again. I shouldn't have in the first place. It was a bad idea.

"Please Rosaline." Edward calls out to me again. I slowly look up at the mirror before me and stare at myself for a long moment. Then I run a hand through my hair, trying to rid of any knots while trying to outwait Edward's curiosity, "Rose...please..."

I look to him in the mirror, but only see a suit standing on its own; of course. Vampires didn't have reflections...I chew on my bottom lip and then turn to face him. I lean back against the counter and stare at him long and hard. I didn't want to say anything more to him. He was a **vampire**. He was a vampire just like Charles Bromley; cold, ruthless, numb.

"Edward," I start and then fall silent. I stare him in the eyes, searching his pools of gold for something. No, he was nothing like Charles Bromley; nothing at all. He had saved me from my Hell and was trying to help. Even now he was trying to help, "Why did you save me?"

"What?" He asks, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion and slight surprise. He pushes himself from the counter and stares down at me, shaking his head, "What does that have to do w-"

"Just answer me. Please." I cut him off, my gaze never faltering. He closes his mouth, a fang peeking out from under his top lip. His eyes dart back and forth from one of my eyes to the other as if also searching for something within me. Slowly his eyes narrow at me and he shakes his head again slowly. His look made me feel like a child that should have known better, that did know better, and whom he knew already understood his reasons why.

"You asked me to." He replies slowly and then falls quiet, "I had to help you. You needed me to."

He falls quiet again and continues to stare down at me. After another moment I nod my head and look down at the ground. I look back at him and cross my arms over my chest. The bathroom falls silent again as he stares at me. I take another deep breath and look away from him. I wipe a tear away from my cheek and sniffle, hoping to compose myself.

"It makes sense now." Edward's words catch my attention. I look up at him and narrow my eyes. He wasn't looking at me anymore. The open bathroom door had become more interesting.

"What?" I ask and sniffle again. He looks down at me and shakes his head a little at his thoughts.

"Now it makes sense why Bromley brought you to the Bromley Marks building. He already knew you couldn't change." He finishes his sentence. I nod my head slowly, not really agreeing or disagreeing with his assumption. I had no idea where he was going with it all, "He knew that your blood could possibly be a cure. He knew it and he caught you, not to help everyone, but to keep the world from a cure. Keep the cure away from him. The bastard…!"

"…do you really think so?" I ask softly. The idea hadn't occurred to me. It made sense though. Bromley had a good life going for him. A cure would mean the end of human farming and then end of his fortune.

"Yes." Edward replied and stared at me, his mouth slightly open. The bathroom falls silent again. I look away from him and stare off at the floor. He made me a little uncomfortable. No. Not uncomfortable. He made me nervous.

"Is it okay if I lay down?" I ask softly and look towards the inviting bed in the bedroom. My feet were sore from those shoes Bromley had given me to wear and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. Edward stands a little straighter and nods his head. He gestures towards the bedroom and slowly I walk of the bathroom. I climb onto the bed and curl into a ball, holding my knees to my chest. It felt like Heaven. It was soft and squishy. The comforter was a silky black with small designs sown into it. I snuggle my face against it and sigh contently.

"You can get under the covers." Edward speaks up and I can hear the slightly uncomfortable tone in his voice. He walks out of the bathroom and to his dresser.

"I won't invade your space that much." I reply through a yawn, "I don't want to impose."

"You're wearing my clothes. You used my shower. Now you're lying on my bed. I think we're far past invading and imposing." Edward retorts with a small breathy scoff. He picks up a remote from the top of his dresser and walks over to one side of the bed. He kneels down and hands places it on the bed, "Here's the TV remote if you want to watch something."

He gently pushes it closer to me and I take it, pulling it to my chest. I watch him carefully as he studies me. He lifts a hand and pushes away some of my hair from my forehead. I know exactly what he's looking at; the bump.

"Do you want something for your head?" He asks gently as his cool fingers graze it. I sigh and tell him no. As if he would even have pain killers. He's a vampire, "Not even some ice?"

"I'm no doctor, but I think I'll live." I reply and give him a small, reassuring smile. All I wanted to do was sleep. Just sleep. Edward stares at me for a moment longer and then nods his head once. He stands up and heads towards the door of the bedroom. He stops before it and turns back around.

"If you need anything," He starts and I look over at him, "I'll just be down stairs picking up."

I nod my head at him and he turns to leave.

"Edward?" I call out softly. He looks back at me once again with a hand on the door knob, "Will you tell me your story one day?"

Edward didn't reply. He only stared at me for a long moment and then cast his eyes downwards. I could see pain cross his face and that told me everything I needed to come up with an answer myself.

"It was someone close to you, wasn't it?" I ask gently and lean up on one of my elbows. Edward's hand on the door knob tightens and I swear for a moment that he may crush the steel.

"It was my brother." He responds quietly, but through gritted teeth.

"Why?" I couldn't comprehend why a sibling or any family member for that matter would change someone they loved.

"I don't know. Perhaps he didn't want to be alone." He rationalized, but I could hear the anger in his voice.

"He didn't give you a choice." I suddenly understand why he was so angry with his brother. He was _forced_ to become a vampire. He looks over at me, jaw clenched and face hard, before he leaves in a rush, shutting the door behind him.

I lay my head back down on the bed and stare at the TV remote as I scold myself for ever speaking so freely. I pick it up and push the little red on button. The TV came to life, the voices low, and flashes of bright lights dance across my face. I flip through the stations, staying on none longer then a moment.

_Chaos ensues as blood rations decrease…_

_We need to feed our families. We're starving…_

_The humans should just face the facts. They're a dieing breed…_

_Hunts for humans continue as less and less are being found. Charles Bromley, of Bromley Marks __pharmaceutical company, has had several sponsors backing out in recent weeks. Will his company be able to supply the food supply we need? Or will a new, stronger and more capabile, company rise above him?_

I lay there staring at the photo of Charles Bromley in the corner of the news program. The news anchor kept rambling on, but I wasn't listening anymore. I couldn't. Just seeing Bromley made my blood boil. Before whatever end I was going to kill him. This was my promise to my dead family, to me, and to all the other human lives he had destroyed over the years.


	12. Chapter 12

~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~

**-Edward's POV-**

I had gone to check on Rosaline a half hour ago and left her to watch bad TV. It had unsettled me how I had left so abruptly when she was asking about how I had become what I am. I wasn't angry with her and I had wanted to make that clear.

I was currently down stairs now pruning the plants I had long forgotten about the last few weeks. I move from one to another with a squirt bottle, spraying each of them as I lose myself in my thoughts.

It made sense now of how Bromley had known about her 'condition' long before we had begun testing her blood. It didn't make me feel any better about Rosaline's situation with him though. He wanted her dead now because he knew she could possibly be a cure, not a solution. That was one thing he didn't want. He liked being a vampire. Loved it even. It brought him all the power and wealth he had dreamed of as a human. He would never give that up and revert back; never.

"Security alert. Back door ajar." I lift my head up at the voice over alarm and look towards the back door, seeing someone walk into the kitchen. My eyes widen as I watch them walk around. I look to wall that hid the stairs and think about Rosaline in my bedroom, most likely sleeping by now. No one could know she was here. It would be a disaster.

"Frankie?" I call out to the visitor from my spot in the living room. Frankie walks into the living room and nods his head at me.

"Hey Ed." He greets quietly.

"I hardly recognized you." I comment and motion towards the duffle bag he carried. I set down the squirt bottle and turn to face him.

"It's only been a few months." He gives a small dejected laugh and looks down at his feet. I nod my head and look back at the stairs a moment before walking towards the kitchen. I wash my hands as Frankie steps up to the island, setting a bottle in a paper bag down, "I got something for you."

"Yeah? What's that?" I ask and look up from the sink. I look at the bottle and then at Frankie, hoping it wasn't what I thought.

"What the fuck do you think it is?" He retorts with a smirk and then looks around the house, "This is some birthday party bro."

"Yeah, well I've turned thirty-five ten times." I counter and pick up the bottle, taking the paper bag from around it, "Birthday's are pointless."

"Bullshit. Let's have a drink." Frankie walks around the island and pulls two glasses from the cupboard. I open the bottle and am immediately greeted with the scent of fresh human blood. Frankie fills the glasses with ice and then sets them down in front of me, smirking.

"Smells human." I comment and set the bottle down, trying to resist temptation that was drawing me in like a drug addict in desperate need of a fix. Frankie gives a small laugh and takes the bottle, filling the glasses near full.

"Yup. It's one hundred percent pure." He sets the bottle back on the counter again and hands me a glass, "One of the benefits of serving your country. I hear even that pig shit you drink is getting hard to find."

"Ah...ah I can't." I wave the glass away and turn to the counter behind me. I shut my eyes tightly and take a deep breath.

"Fuck that. You need it." Frankie tries to push the glass on me again. I shake my head and wave it back. I pull a cigarette out of the box I had set on the counter and pick up my lighter.

"Yeah well...life's a bitch and then you **don't** die." I light up my cigarette and take a long drag. The cigarettes usually helped crave my thirst, if only for a little while.

"Come on." Frankie sets the glass on the island, staring at me hard. I shake my head and pull my cigarette from my lips.

"I don't touch human blood." I argue and look away from the glass.

"You don't touch human blood... You work for a company that uses humans like fuckin' cattle." Frankie snaps, sparking my temper. He was right, but who was he to talk? I may herd the cattle, but he was the one that hunted them down like dogs.

"Don't tell me how to live my life, little brother." I growl lowly, pointing at him. Frankie leans on the island and stares me down.

"Then don't act all high and mighty, big brother. See at your company they're working on some kind of fake blood. That's one thing, but we all know that their money comes from farming humans! They-"

"YOU WANT TO START EXACTLY WHERE WE LEFT OFF!" I suddenly shout, and internally scold myself. If Rosaline heard me yelling she might come downstairs and that was something that absolutely couldn't happen while my brother was around. I take a deep breath and look back over at him, "I don't hunt humans. **That** is your job."

"I find them. You farm them." Frankie counters without a misstep.

"All right well, let's just dump this shit." I grab the bottle and move towards the sink, preparing to drain it.

"Nothing changes, does it?" Frankie grabs the bottle back and sets it back on the island, "You still don't get why I joined."

There was a moment of silence between us. I try to calm myself, but to no avail. This was a hot topic, more so as of late than ever, with me.

"What happens when there isn't a single drop left? When there isn't a **single **human? A single anything?" I ask slowly, becoming more heated on the subject. These thoughts had plagued my mind for years. Slowly, everything that wasn't infected was dying. Every single food source was dieing.

"We will always find more." Frankie replies, but I shake my head.

**A kid... he's a dumb kid...**

I try to remind myself of this over and over again.

"A blood substitute means the end of human hunting." I explain. I only wish that he would understand. I wish I could make him understand.

"Fake blood doesn't mean the end of shit." Frankie snaps back.

"All right then... If I believe that, then you have to drive a stake through my heart right now." I grab the bottle and begin to dump it down the sink. Frankie tries to grab it from me and after a moment does, barely anything left in the bottle. He looks at it and then throws it across the room enraged. It smashes against a wall and blood drips down to the floor slowly.

Frankie picks up his bag and storms to the door. A growl makes both of us jump as a deprived vampire walks through the door. It sniffs the air and then growls lowly again as it tries to find the sweet smell of blood.

"Shit!" I back up and round the island, trying to put as much space between me and it as possible. It growls again and then goes to the wall, licking the blood that was beginning to dry. Its winged arms scratched against the wall like nails on a chalkboard, "Frankie."

I look between Frankie and the mutated vampire, unsure of what to do. It pulls itself away from the wall and spreads its wings, snarling at us. It walks closer to Frankie, but stops and goes after the glass of blood on the island. I lurch forward and try to grab a knife from the wood block by its head, my fingers slipping on the handles. It lifts its head suddenly and snarls at me, showing its teeth. I growl back and jump, my back hitting the counter by the fridge. Frankie grabs a knife and holds it tightly, ready to use it.

"Frankie, don't-"

The mutated vampire suddenly hits Frankie in the chest, sending him flying back towards the kitchen table and hitting the wall. He falls onto the table, smashing it and is unconscious. Then the mutated vampire looks to me. I grab a stool and hold it up as a defense against it.

I wasn't a soldier like my brother. I didn't know how to fight.

I spot something gold swaying by the stairs and look back at the mutated vampire. I take a quick glance at the stairs again, knowing what the gold was. I knew she would come down if she heard raised voices. I knew it, but if the mutated vampire caught a whiff of her it was over.

"Get upstairs and lock the door now!" I call out to her and see her head disappear behind the wall again. I look down at Frankie, unconscious on the ground and kick him once to try and wake him, "Frankie! Frankie, get up!"

Frankie stirs and lifts his head. He jumps to his feet and grabs the knife from the floor. He moves the table, creating space to combat the mutant. We both lurch at it to attack, but it springs up and latches itself onto the ceiling. Frankie tries to slash at it, but the mutant swings a wing at him. Frankie tries again and this time cuts the beast along its abdomen. He slashes again and then again. The mutant falls limp, feet still latched onto the ceiling. Frankie slashes again and removes its head, causing the mutant to fall to the ground defeated.

It wasn't long after that the police arrived. I was grateful that I had given Rosaline some of my clothes. My scent helped mask hers and the hope that she was probably under the covers of my bed made it better.

"This is the third home here in the last month. These things are in the suburbs now. So, it's important that you update your security." One of the police says to me, but I ignore him and look to Frankie beside me. He was being looked at by a medic, his face hard and staring at the dead mutant vampire lying limp on my kitchen floor.

"Same common traits as all the others. Aggression was most likely brought on by massive reductions in serotonin levels." A medical examiner announces to one of the other policemen. I stand up from my seat and walk closer to the body, leaning against the nearest wall.

"Ugly son of a bitch." The policeman comments while taking a drag of his cigar. He looks at me and gives me a smirk, taking another drag, "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Together forever; Lillian and Carl." The names catch my attention and make me look over at the examiner.

"Carl?" I ask no one in particular. I move closer and stare down at the body. This thing, this creature, couldn't be him.

"You knew him?" The policeman asks in surprise.

"Yeah, he was the local gardener." I start and shake my head, "I saw him two weeks ago."

"He was feeding on other vamps. Only takes a couple of weeks to get this messed up." The policeman comments and nods his head at Carl.

"Most of these wounds look self inflicted." The examiner announces and looks up from the body.

"He fed on himself?" The policeman asks, not believing his ears.

"Perhaps. That would speed up the mutation." The examiner explains and stands up, taking the head of the mutant with her in a plastic bag. The policeman scoffs and shakes his head at the mutant on the ground. He then orders for someone to come and claim it.

After another hour they all leave. I start to clean up the glass, but stop and throw the broom I had in my hand to the ground. I walk into the living room and head for the stairs, walking past Frankie on the couch.

I hit the top of the stairs and walk to my bedroom. I take hold of the door knob and turn it slowly, feeling that it was locked like I had told her. I give a small sigh of relief and lay my forehead on the doorframe. I tap on the door lightly and soon it opens, revealing Rosaline behind it with wavy, air dried hair that was messy from lying down and running her hands through it.

"What-" She begins, but stops when I hold a finger to my lips. I push her back into the bedroom gently and close the door behind me. I lock it and then walk into my bathroom. I wash my hands and my face, wetting my hair slightly when I run a hand through it.

I lift my head and look at myself in the mirror. I try to imagine a face, my face. My brown, shaggy hair and my pale alabaster skin... my golden eyes. The water continues to run and the sound dulls to a murmur as I tell myself these were my eyes now; the eyes of a killer. I get the feeling of being watched and look out into the bedroom.

Rosaline is lying on my bed above the covers and hugging a pillow tightly to her chest with her knees pulled up as far as they could go. She was watching me carefully, my every move. She scanned me from top to bottom, taking in the way I was leaning on the counter. Her eyes stop at my face and she stares deeply into my diseased orbs.

"What color were they before?" She asked softly. I stared into her deep pools that reminded me of a full moon night. Her breathing was slow and quiet as she waited for me to respond. I look back at the mirror and stare at the eyes gleaming back at me.

"Blue." I reply and walk out of the bathroom. I get to the bed and open the nightstand drawer beside Rosaline. I rummage around for a moment before I find the little black book I had in there.

"What shade?" Rosaline asks as I flipped through the pages. I look down at her and then close to the book back up. I slip it into the drawer again and close it.

"Sky blue." I reply and then kneel down beside the bed.

"Hey," I start and she stares at me with her big blue eyes. Being this close I could see exactly the shades of blue that made up the stunning pools. It started out as a dark blue and then slowly got lighter the closer it got to the pupil, almost white next to the black. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She replies and snuggles into the pillow. "Are you?"

"Yeah." I nod my head and try to give her a reassuring smile, but I could tell she knew better.

"Yeah, cause that was real convincing." She laughs and smiles back at me. "Who is down stairs now?"

"Just my brother, Frankie." She nods her head and looks down at the comforter she laid on. She plays with one of the fraying strands on it and licks her lips rosy lips.

"He's a hunter?" She asks slowly. I could tell she didn't want to over step any boundaries again, but at the same time wanted to know. She had a right to. She was human in a vampire's house. I would be cautious too.

"How long were you on the stairs?" I ask seriously. I had only seen her when the mutated vampire had appeared. She gives a small shrug and looks back at me.

"I was coming down when I heard the security system. So I stopped and I was a little too afraid to move. So I sat down and waited." She admits, scrunching her face apologetically.

"I couldn't smell you at all." I think back to the entire conversation between my brother and me. Not once did I smell her. Not even a little.

"Well, let's see. I used the same soap you do; the same shampoo. I'm wearing your clothes which smell like your cologne. I doubt a bloodhound could tell the difference between you and me right now." She smiles and releases the pillow a little from her tight grasp.

"Yeah, you're right." I give a small snort of a laugh and nod my head. She was right. I could barely make out her scent right now and I was only a few inches away.

"So, is Frankie staying?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure how long though." I reply and then inwardly curse. I hated that he came back right when I was in the middle of something so important, "And tomorrow I have work... Shit…!"

I gave a groan and turn my back to her, sitting on the floor. I lean my back against the bed and run a hand through my hair.

"That's alright. I'll skip out in a little while. He'll never notice me." She smiles and sits up. She tosses the pillow off to the side where it had been and stretches. She wasn't actually planning on leaving was she? She couldn't. She could get hurt... or worse…

Rosaline stands up and cracks her knuckles before walking to where her heels were. She picked them up and gave a small snort.

"Better than nothing I guess…" She mumbles to herself as she looks them over.

"You can't leave." I suddenly say and turn my head to look at her. She looks over at me with knitted eyebrows. I realize what she was thinking. "I mean... of course you can leave. I won't stop you, but I still need to study your blood and you're safer with me, here, then out there on your own."

"…then what do we do?" She asks, purely concerned about this idea. I shake my head and look towards the door for a moment. I stand from the floor and run a hand over my mouth as I try to think of a plan.

"I don't know." I reply softly and shake my head. I really had no idea what I… what we would do. I had start including her in the planning process. I wasn't her captor. I was her...

I couldn't finish my thought because I had no word to fill the void. What could I say? Savior? Kidnapper? Friend? What was suitable in this situation?

"Edward?" She calls out to me from where she sat on the bed. I look to her and lick my lips.

"We're in a very tricky situation and one wrong move could mean the end of everything; a substitute, a possible cure…" I spoke carefully and shook my head again when I failed to come up with a plan, "We'll figure it out though."

"We?" She asks slowly, the phrase sounding odd.

"You're as much a part of this as I am." I reply and shove my hands into my pockets.

"We... I like that word." She smiles and stares up at me, "Am I allowed to call you a friend now? Or is that just completely off the table?"

"We are friends, Rosaline." I confirm, grateful that she had given me some hint as to what all this was. "We have been for a long time."

She smiles at me and walks back to the bed. She climbs on it and lays back down, pulling the pillow to her chest once more. She sighs heavily, but happily.

"What are you going to do now?" She asks as a yawn escapes her lips.

"Pick up the mess." I reply with a ghost of a smile. She gives a small laugh and then closes her eyes, squeezing the pillow.

I take one last look at her and then walk to the door of the bedroom. I head back downstairs having no idea how I was going to get away with this. If I had work tomorrow and Frankie was around, then there was bound to be serious trouble.


	13. Chapter 13

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

_~Rosaline's POV~_

I stir at the sound of the door opening and try to lay as still as possible. The covers were over my head, but I was sure that anyone who looked would know there was someone in the bed. The door doesn't close and this frightens me. I struggle to think of what to do as my heart pounds in my chest.

"Hello?" This wasn't Edward's voice. It was higher in tone, but darker. I swallow hard and stare blankly at the wall from beneath the small opening in the comforter. My breathing starts to become heavier and I swallow hard, my throat dry.

"Mmm... Eddie?" I moan slightly hoarse, trying to make Edward's little brother believe I had just been woken up. I roll over onto my back beneath the covers and try to keep myself as covered as I can, but my hair peeks out. My skin was pale for a human, but not nearly as pale as a vampire's and if this little brother of Edward's saw even a fraction of it I was a goner.

"Is that you...? Come back to bed, baby. Mmm, last night was great." I give a small giggle, rolling my eyes at the way it sounds once it leaves my lips. I consciously have to tell myself to make my voice higher, "I want a quickie before I have to leave."

I fall silent, cursing myself for my words and the way they sounded. I couldn't think of anything else to say or do. So I pretended to be some air-head girl Edward had brought home, hoping his little brother would believe that Edward would do such a thing as use a girl for sex. I didn't believe Edward ever would, but his little brother might.

After a long moment I hear the door close, latching shut. I let out a long, soft, shaky sigh and close my eyes. My breathing was rushed and choppy as I try to calm my heart down.

That was too close. Way too close. The hunter had literally been feet away from me. Thank God I smelled like Edward. Otherwise that never would have worked.

I lay beneath the covers for several minutes, feeling as though I wasn't quite out of the clear yet. I hear the door open again and like before I freeze, my heart hammering against my chest.

This time there is no voice greeting me and this makes the hair on my arms stand up. The door closes softly and I hear it being locked. Then I hear the muffled shuffling of feet moving along the carpet towards the bed. I feel the other side sink next to me and hear someone sigh heavily.

I let out a sigh of relief and sit up, pushing the covers back. I look over at Edward, who was hunched over like he had been that day in my cell, with his back to me. I move closer and reach out to place a hand on his back. I rub small circles aimlessly and watch as Edward moves and pulls out a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. He hands it to me quietly without ever turning to look at me.

It was a little map of Gordon Creek off of exit 510. On it in red ink were the words; Wednesday, noon, you **AND** Rosaline.

"What is this...?" I ask softly and fold it back up into a small square. Edward kicks off his shoes and moves back on the bed, forcing my hand to fall from his back. He leans back against the headboard and crossed his legs.

"Do you remember the crash yesterday?" He asks and closes his eyes. I make a small 'mhm' and lie down on my side, watching him, "Well the woman caught me down stairs a few minutes ago and gave me that. She said she needed my help."

I think about a few minutes ago and wonder if I should tell him about his brother. I decide against it and lick my lips, searching for something else to say.

"Are you going to go?" I ask softly. He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling.

"I don't know." He replies and turns his head to face me. He stares at me long and hard. I could tell he was trying to think, "What do you think we should do?"

I give a small smile and lean up on my elbows, stomach flat against the bed.

"I think we should go." I answer honestly. This woman had dared to come into a vampire's home and asked him to help her. She was either really good at setting someone up or she really did need the help. I give a small laugh and flip myself over onto my back hastily, "Don't worry. I'll be right there to protect you from those nasty humans."

I couldn't help but smile at him again, trying to hold back my laughter that was building up deep within me.

"You protect me?" He asks rhetorically and smiles back at me, "I would love to see that."

He stares down at me with that smile and I can feel heat rising to my cheeks. I toss the covers over my head and hide in the darkness they created. The air falls silent between us and after a moment of it I find a question.

"Edward?" I ask after a moment and slowly tug the covers down.

"Hm?" He asks and looks back at me from the ceiling. I could see the tiredness swimming in his eyes.

"Do vampires need to sleep?" I ask, honestly wanting an answer to the question. It seemed like a strange idea to me; vampires _needing_ sleep. There was a lot I didn't know about them.

"I don't know if we **need **to, but we get tired." He replies and looks down at me again. I look down at the sheet beneath me and stare blankly. Edward moves and closes his eyes again, looking like he was ready to fall asleep in any uncomfortable position.

"Your brother came into the room." I spoke up carefully, earning Edward's immediate attention.

"What happened?" He asks and sits up straighter, "Did he see you?"

"No, well yeah." I struggle with and sigh, wanting to disappear, "He opened the door and called out. So, I pretended to be..."

"Pretended to be... what?" Edward encouraged as I roll my eyes and turn my back to him. I feel a blush cross my cheeks as I think about what I had done.

"I pretended to be some girl you had brought home and... yeah." I falter off, unable to bring myself to say the words 'slept with'.

"Huh." Edward gives a small huff and instantly my blush is gone.

"Huh?" I ask incredulously and move to lie on my back, looking up at him. He looks down at me as he runs a hand over his mouth and shakes his head before looking away again.

"My brother was on the bottom steps when I came up. He was kind of smirking and told me he didn't know I had it in me, which I thought was a strange thing to say." Edward explains and looks towards the locked door. I mentally cheer, having guessed right about Edward not being the type of guy to do such a thing.

"So, you're not the brother that randomly brings home strange women to use at all hours of the night." I feel a playful smile crossing my lips and slowly I lay my chin in the palm of one of my hand, held up by my elbow, "You're the brother that brings home strange women and lets them use your shower, wear your clothes, and sleep in your bed. Do this often?"

"You're my first rebel act." Edward gave a small laugh and ran a hand over his face. I smile and sit up, legs bent under me, knees nearly touching the side of his thigh.

"So you've always been the good boy. Frankie was the trouble maker." I assume, though I knew I was completely right. Edward nods his head and leans his back against the wall, "Aw man. So this means I'm the one that turned saint into sinner."

"No. I was a sinner long before I met you." Edward's voice went soft, distant as though he was pulled off into his thoughts. I watch him for a long moment and then move closer to him. I sit beside him and lean my back against the headboard, pulling my knees up to lay sideways so my heels nearly touched my butt.

"Edward," I start, unsure of what I was planning on saying past his name, "You're a good man."

Edward looks to me with a broken, defeated expression. My heart sinks into my stomach at the sight. I stare at him a moment longer and then gently pull him to me, lying his head on my shoulder. I wrap my right arm around his back and the other hand lies gently against his head near his right ear. I cradle him like a lost child.

Edward was stiff for a moment. He was unsure as to what to do. Soon, though, his left arm wraps around my middle as he gently places his right hand on my left forearm. I felt him tighten his hold on me, not enough to hurt me, but enough to tell me he was hurting.

"Oh Edward..." I whisper and lay my left cheek against the top of his head. I didn't know what else to say to him. I didn't know how exactly to comfort him.

"Why are you so…?" Edward's voice trails off. I give a small huffy laugh and pull my cheek away from his head.

"So what? Human?" I ask as he pulls away from me completely. I give him a small smile, knowing that was the word he had wanted to use, "Why are **you**?"

Edward was quiet for a long time, only staring into my eyes. He was searching for something again. I had no idea what it was, but he seemed determined to find it.

"I'm going to make you so _bad_ by the time this is over." I joke, his gaze making me squirm. I lean back against the headboard again and close my eyes with a content smile gracing my lips.

"I doubt that." Edward responds softly and I feel the bed move under his weight, "You were in the same boat as me before the outbreak."

"Are you sure about that?" I open one eye and look at him lying down on the bed.

"Positive. You were a good girl until you were forced to put up a cold face. You're changed because of everything that has happened. You had to change to survive." He answers simply, his voice tired, "You may not have fangs like you wanted, but you're one of us, Rosaline."

I don't know why, but his words struck something within me. It wasn't a good thing. It kind of hurt like a paper cut almost. I don't why he said it or if he meant it to be as cold as it was, but all the same I didn't know how to respond.

I slowly sink down onto the bed and turn my back to him. The room was suddenly chilly and it made me shiver. I pull the comforter up and cover myself, tucking it beneath my arm.

I didn't think I was cold or that I was anything like the vampires. I didn't really even think I had changed much because of everything, but I had. He was right. I had to change. To survive in this world I couldn't be that _good girl_ anymore; especially if I wanted Bromley dead by my own hand.

Somewhere along the line I had begun to teeter on the fence, going from old Rosaline that was sweet and happy to new Rose that was cold and distant. I didn't know which was worse to be and that frightened me.


	14. Chapter 14

_~Until__ Your Heart Stops Beating~_

**-Edward's POV-**

It was dark when I awoke from my sleep. The streetlights outside shone through the unshielded window, its manufactured light dancing across Rosaline's face. She still lied beside me with one hand beneath the pillow under her head and the other beside her lips. She was facing me though. Her breathing was slow and so soft that I could hardly hear it.

I laid there for a long while to just watch her. I wanted to see how she slept; see how I used to sleep; peaceful as though safe inside our subconscious mind. I wish I could sleep like that again and I had this time. I had come closer to that feeling of security than I had in years. I chalked that up to having Rosaline beside me.

There was something about this girl. She was different. Not different because she was human, but different than anyone I had ever met or remember meeting; human or vampire. She was unusually compassionate and kind towards the creatures that had lit her world on fire and forced her to watch it burn. It confused me and at the same time amazed me.

I slowly reach out a hand to her and brush back the hair that had fallen over the side of her neck from behind her ear. She sighs softly, contently, and then falls silent once more. She makes no noise, no movement apart from her eyes that crept from left to right beneath their lids as I brush her hair away from her face so it all rested behind her head on the pillow.

I look over the black and blue bruise on her forehead, cursing myself again for not buckling her into the car. She was lucky she hadn't gone through the windshield. My eyes catch sight of a scar hidden towards the nap of her neck behind the bottom of her ear. It was a bite; faint, but still visible if you look hard enough. I feel anger well up inside of me. It was Bromley's bite. The bite she had hoped would turn her into one of us; a monster. I trail my fingers over it feather light and close my eyes tightly.

I never believed much that there was a God, but I thank whatever higher power there was for protecting her against the darkness that had overcome the world. She was the light in all of this; the single thread of hope I still clung to.

I pull my hand back to me and then carefully climb out of bed. I didn't want to wake Rosaline for two reasons. One, she looked like she could use the sleep. Two, I wouldn't know what to say after what I had said before she had fallen asleep. I pondered a moment about writing a note to apologize to her, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Whether pride or shame, I didn't know the answer.

I quickly took a shower and get dressed in a dark suit. I watch Rosaline through the reflection in the mirror hanging in the closet as I fix my tie. She mumbles something softly in her sleep and rolls onto her back, sighing softly as she drifted deeper into her dreams. I couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of her sleeping in my bed and in my clothes.

I had given up on denying my feelings for her the moment I decided to take her away from the Abyss. I wouldn't allow her to know or anyone to know though. It would be bad. It** was** bad already. The lion falling for the lamb... It was sick, disgusting, and I knew it. I was sick, a monster, a killer, but the more I tried to deny what was happening the faster and harder I fell.

I walk towards her side on the bed and kneel down. I place a hand gently against her cheek, the warm blood rushing through her veins beneath the pale peach flesh. I quickly kiss her forehead and walk to the door of the room. That was the closest I would ever get to being with her.

I take a look back at her as I close the door and then I'm gone. I think back to what I had said before about her being like us; vampires. I knew my words had hurt her. I hadn't meant for them to, but they had none the less. What I had meant when I said that she was like us, like me, is that she was forced to become something against her nature to survive.

Maybe I should have explained it that way instead of assuming she knew my cryptic meaning. Then again, maybe it was better this way. Maybe she would stay further away from me now. She was getting too close as it was.

Frankie was gone when I had gotten to the bottom of the stairs; duffle bag and all. I don't think he was going to be coming back anytime soon either, which was good because I had work. I hated the idea of leaving Rosaline home alone in a neighborhood full of vampires after the sub-sider last night and Frankie showing up out of the blue, but I had no choice. I had to go to work. It would seem suspicious if I didn't show up. Especially since I knew that the entire building would be in an uproar about Rosaline missing. Then again maybe not. I had no idea how many people knew that Rosaline even existed.

The streets were bustling with vampires as I walk into the Bromley Marks Building. I could see several officers questioning everyone they could get a hold of. I could make out some of what was being said. The officer's had no idea what they were really searching for. All they asked was if anyone had heard or seen anything strange yesterday.

As soon as I walk past the front desk I hear my name being called. A woman I knew to be Bromley's assistant hands me a note, telling me that I was wanted on the top floor. So, I quickly stop by the lab to drop my things off and head towards the elevator, riding it till I reach the top floor. I was lucky to escape the officers. I'm not an expert liar.

"Ah, Edward," Charles greets as I step out of the elevator. He walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. The urge to rip that hand off suddenly arises as Rosaline's words reverberate in my head.

_"__Charles Bromley is the vampire that turned my brother and killed my parents. He's the first vampire I tried to have change me..."_

"How are you feeling?" Charles's voice broke me from my thoughts and my eyes went to his mouth, remembering the bite mark on Rosaline's neck, "The break in must have been very... _traumatic_."

His words are insincere as he says them with a smile. I want to rip out his tongue and shove it down his throat. I look away from him, fearing that I may just follow the sinister ideas in my head. All I can think about is Rosaline and the pain Bromley caused her, but I take a deep breath and face Charles again with composure.

"I'm fine. Thank you." I nearly grit out, the words leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Charles smiles and leads me to a chair in the middle of his office. I take a seat and watch as Charles places his hands behind his back and stares down at the floor.

"Well, these attacks on everyday citizens are a cause for great concern." He comments and reaches down to a box that lay on the glass coffee table before me. He pulls out a cigar and holds it out for me in an offering. I shake my head and cross my legs, laying my arms on each of the armrests.

"All the more reason to push forward, wouldn't you say?" Charles asks rhetorically as he clips the end of the cigar in his hand and lights it.

"I would just like your guarantee that a blood substitute would replace our need for a human supply." I spoke carefully, my eyes never leaving Charles. He stares back at me for a long moment and takes a drag from the cigar in his fingers. He sits down on the couch on the other side of the coffee table from me and leans back, crossing his legs. An uneasy feeling washes over me, "Sir?"

"It's important that we allow the humans' time to repopulate." He answers simply and gives a fake smile.

"That's not _exactly _what I asked."

"The majority of the population will be fine with a blood substitute, yes." Charles starts and looks down for a brief moment. He raises his cigar to his lips and takes another drag, letting out a long streak of smoke, "Bu there will always be some who are willing to pay extra for the real thing."

I don't speak. I don't even move. I only stare at him hard, showing my dislike.

"Come on Edward," Charles moves to the edge of the couch and leans his elbows on his knees. His cigar continued to smolder and released little whiffs of smoke into the air, "We have to be realistic. If we don't cater to every market, then someone else will."

I sit quietly for a long while as Charles smokes his cigar. My jaw is clenched and my hands grip the edge of the arm rest tightly. I want to lurch across the coffee table and tear his head from his neck, but decide on another plan.

"How much do you think they would be willing to pay for your daughter?" I speak lowly, a growl nearly escaping me. The tone in the room changes and the tension builds to where it's hard to breathe. Charles slowly looks up and matches my glare with a small smirk that held rage behind it.

He didn't say anything to me for a long while. He wants me to back down, but I refuse to shy away. After another moment he leans back into the couch again and takes a drag of the cigar that had nearly smoldered down to nothing.

"Are you aware that we had a break out last night?" He begins and I feel my hands shake ever so slightly. I couldn't tell whether or not Charles suspected me, but I wasn't going to take a chance.

"I heard the officer's asking everyone downstairs if they had seen or heard anything strange yesterday." I explain slowly. Charles nods his head and leans forward to put his cigar out in the ashtray.

"It was Rosie."

"And you think she 'broke out'? You're giving her a lot of credit if you think she could pull something like that off." I quickly formulate an idea in my head to get him off of my trail, "Wouldn't it seem more appropriate that there was a break in? Maybe a group of vampires or humans found out she was here and broke in?"

"I thought of that, but no human would come within a mile of this building or the city. A group of vampires, maybe, but they got past every security system without even breaking in." Charles finishes and lays his arms along the back of the couch. I pretend to think over what he was implying, knowing fully well what he was thinking.

"You think someone **here** broke her out." I speak slowly, pretending to think the idea was ludicrous, "Why?"

"Maybe they were paid or maybe they heard she couldn't be turned and they thought she would be an everlasting food source. I don't know." I could hear the frustration in his voice. He looks away from me towards his desk and narrows his eyes slightly, "Maybe he was paid to steal her for another company."

"He?" I ask and narrow my eyes. Charles looks back at me and gives a small smile.

"Private Jenkins was the last person to see her in the cell," Charles slips a hand into his suit jacket and pulls out an ID card, "and he was carrying this on him."

He slides the card to me and I see that it was **my** ID card. I pick it up from the table and stare at it. I didn't remember dropping it last night. I narrow my eyes and look back at Charles.

"Where did he get it?" I ask, completely surprised.

"He said he found it by the south stairwell." He replies and watches me carefully. I look back down at the card again and hide my anxiety with mock confusion. I had been by the south stairwell last night. It was the quickest way to the parking lot, "We believe that he stole your ID, used it to get past the security systems, and took Rosie."

"Has he said where he took her?" I ask slowly, fingers nervously dancing on the card. Charles shakes his head.

"No, he hasn't, but we'll find out eventually." His tone was dark. I could only imagine what was happening to the innocent Private while I sat freely in a couple thousand dollar armchair.

A few minutes later I was back in the elevator, heading to the lab. I sit down on a stool by my desk and pull out the note I had slipped into my pocket.

**Gordon Creek**

**Noon**

**Wednesday**

**You AND Rose**

It was still only Tuesday night and it was an hour till midnight. I look over at the phone on the desk and pick it up, dialing my house number. It rings three times and then goes to voicemail. I hang up and dial again. It goes to voicemail, but I don't hang up this time. I turn my back to the rest of the lab and cup a hand over the bottom of the phone.

"Pick up. It's Edward." I speak softly, hoping no one heard me. I didn't know if she would be awake, but the phone's ringer was loud enough to be an alarm.

"…sorry. I didn't know whether or not to answer." Rosaline's voice comes through at the other end.

"You didn't know who was calling." I look around the lab quickly and then turn my back to them all once again, "I'll be by around eleven. Be ready to leave."

"Okay... Edward?

"Yes?"

"...please be careful." She hangs up after that, leaving me a little confused. She didn't sound angry with me at all. It surprised me. She surprised me a lot. I hang the phone up and push the note deep into my pants pocket. I look around the lab, my mind not on my work at all. I only had to stall for a few hours and then I could leave.


	15. Chapter 15

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

_~Rosaline's POV~_

I look to the clock again. The minute hand had only moved one spot since my last glance. My right leg bounces lightly, nervously, as I await Edward's return. He was late by a half hour. In a normal situation that would have been nothing to me, but this wasn't a normal situation.

I had taken a shower and gotten dressed in the lounge pants and shirt he had given me to sleep in. I wasn't about to go through his drawers and closet in search of something new. That was beyond rude and he had been so... nice wasn't even enough to describe how he had been.

I hear a key in the front door and quickly stand up. For a brief moment I feel fear strike me. What if it wasn't Edward? What if it was Frankie? But then I see Edward set into the kitchen carrying a grocery bag.

"Sorry I'm late." He apologizes when he sees me standing in his living room. He takes off his hat and sunglasses, setting them on the counter before walking over to me.

"You said around eleven. Eleven thirty is around." I give him a small smile, my nervousness slipping away. I look to the bag in his hand and nod at it.

"That's why I'm late. I realized you had nothing to wear." He sounded uneasy and his eyes darting from me to some other part of the room confirmed it.

"You bought me clothes?" I ask rhetorically. I wanted to call him sweet, but I held my tongue. I arch an eyebrow with a grin crossing my lips and cross my arms over my chest, "How did you know my size?"

"I guessed honestly." He gave a small scoff and held out the bag to me, "You look like a medium, but I got a large just to make sure everything fit all right."

"Edward Dalton, you're good." I give a small laugh and take the plastic bag from him, our fingers brushing gently. I saw him stiffen, but didn't comment on it. I understood. He was a vampire and I was human. It was difficult enough being in the same room with me let alone accidentally coming in contact. I give him a smile and walk towards the downstairs bathroom.

I close the door, flick on the light, and hurry to pull out the clothes. I set the pale yellow shirt and jeans on the counter. I peer into the bag again and see _unmentionables _at the bottom. I give a small laugh and shake my head while I look up at the ceiling of the bathroom. I pull out the bra and was surprised to find that it fit almost perfectly. I was honestly a little uncomfortable with _how _he guessed that one, but I quickly got over it and pulled on the matching underwear.

The shirt was a little bigger than I was used to, but it was soft, it was clean, and above everything it hadn't come from Charles Bromley. I pull the jeans on and couldn't help but look at my hair in the mirror as I went to open the door. I ran my fingers through it, hoping to calm the waves in it some. I notice the bruise on my forehead and make a face while cursing lowly.

I open the door and step out.

"Hey, Edward, you didn't happen to get-"

"Right here." He cuts me off and holds up a pair of socks and shoes as I close the bathroom door. They weren't as nice to look at as my light blue converses, but they seemed comfortable. I pull the socks on and then the shoes, standing up once I was done. He grabs his sunglasses and hat from the counter and we head out into the garage where his car sat.

I climb into the passenger's side and close my door, buckling myself in. I swallow hard when I feel my stomach rumble and will the hunger away. Edward situates himself in the driver's seat and locks the car doors. He starts the engine and engages the daytime driving application for the car, the window tinting till there was absolutely no sunlight.

We pull out of the Bromley Marks Estates and take off down the open road. We drive through the city and I watch the monitors carefully, seeing no sign of life. It was if the city was completely deserted. It was a strange sight.

I hear the clink of metal and look over at Edward, who was holding a lighter with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. I want to ask him not to smoke, but I only look away. The first whiff of the smoke makes my stomach churn uncomfortably. I close my eyes and turn my head away, breathing slowly to try and combat the sick feeling.

"Are you alright?" Edward asks, catching me off guard. I look over at him and watch him look from me to the monitors.

"I'm fine." I reply and look away again, resting my elbow on the car door. I cover my mouth with my hand, looking as though it was only resting there, and try to breath in the scent of Irish Springs that lingered on my fingers.

Out of the corner of my eyes I see Edward pull the cigarette from his lips and stare at it a moment. He lowers it into the cup holder he had turned into an ashtray and blew the last of the smoke in his lungs the opposite direction from me. I smile softly, but don't say anything to disturb the silence between us.

Before long we were out of the city and into the countryside. I wished quietly that we could have the windows down so I could feel the sunlight on my skin, but I knew that couldn't happen. We roll along a dirt road heading towards a large oak tree. A woman stood with a crossbow at her side in the middle of the road.

"Is that her?" I ask and lean closer to the monitor to see her better. She had long dark hair and was wearing a brown leather jacket with jeans and boots. Edward pulls up until the woman's knees almost touch the front bumper and parks.

"He's waiting for you." She speaks into the camera at the top of the car. She steps out of the way to the side of the dirt road and nods her head towards the large tree. Edward pulls out of park and creeps along the road towards the tree. He parks beneath the large overcast the branches creates and unlocks the car doors.

"Stay in the car." Edward orders softly as he opens his door, readying to step out. He pulls on his hat and sunglass as I quickly unbuckle myself and shake my head at the idea of him going out with a group of humans, one of which was carrying a crossbow.

"I will do no such thing. Like I said before, I'll protect you from the nasty humans." I reply with a smile and step out of the car. The alarm for UV rays goes off and continues as Edward steps out of the car. He looks to me over the roof of his car, his eyes hidden by his dark sunglasses. I give him another smile and wink, slamming my door shut.

There were a few things he didn't know about me; one being my ability to fight. I was good with hand to hand combat. Better than most girls I had met over the years. It was a useful trait these days for any human trying to stay alive.

"Just let me do the talking." Edward whispers to me as he passes me. I raise a hand to my forehead and mock salute, replying with 'aye, aye o'capitan'. I watch him carefully as he weaves in and out of the rays of sunlight that had managed to break through the leaves of the tree.

I wondered just how bad the sunlight hurt vampires. I mean, I've seen movies. Lots of movies about vampires, but that was all pulp fiction. This was real. Edward was real. If even a small speck of sunlight hit him, would he burst into flames? Turn to ash?

As we round the tree we spoke an antique car parked beneath the shade. I spot the toe of a shoe on one of the large branches low to the ground and grab Edward's elbow, pulling him back a little.

"Trees are the oldest living things on earth." A voice spoke up, deep but weary. I step around Edward and peek at the person hidden by the shade and tree trunk, "Did you know that?"

I look back at Edward and give a small shrug, unsure of what to do. He walks up beside me and then slowly passes me. I watch carefully as he moves closer to the man in the tree and then follow behind him.

"They say some are over four thousand years old. Someday though, this tree will die. So will you." He spoke freely again. I could make see his outline and the outline of a rifle sitting in his lap. I make to move in front of Edward, but he puts a hand behind him and keeps me back. I look up at him, but he doesn't meet my gaze. His eyes are firmly planted on the man in the tree.

"Maybe you won't die of old age like her," I see the man's head nod in my direction and I feel Edward's hand on my belly stiffen, "but the thing you're holdin' on to, that last breath of humanity, will vanish as soon as the blood does."

The air falls silent around us. The leaves rustle as the wind blows through them and the dying brown grass around sounds like sandpaper scraping against each other. I feel Edward's hand slip from my belly and fall to his side as he steps closer to the man in the tree.

"What do you want?" Edward asks slowly, defensively. The man takes a deep breath, refusing to look at us.

"Same thing you do; a future." He replies as a crow calls out from the sky. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I look around the empty fields as though I may see something that doesn't fit, but I don't. I move closer to Edward and look around the fields again. Something was wrong.

"I was like you once." The man speaks up again and pulls on the collar of his shirt to show a scar of a bite long passed healed, "But not no more."

He lets go of his collar and steps down from the branch he had been perched on. He was an older man, late fifties with a full goatee, wearing a racing jacket and hiking boots.

"Lionel Cormac. My friends call me Elvis." He states and holds out his hand in the sunlight with the rifle resting on his left hip. Edward watches him as he approaches with his outstretched hand and stops right before the shade he took cover in. He looks down at Lionel's hand and looks back up, "I promise I ain't gonna bite."

Edward slowly raises his hand. He keeps it in the shade and Lionel slowly reaches over and takes it.

"Elvis?" Edward asks carefully as they shake hands and Lionel nods, confirming the name.

"You know, like," Lionel begins to snap a beat, "Lord almighty, I feel my temperature rising. Higher and higher, it's burnin' right through... to my... soul."

Lionel lurches his hand out and grabs Edward's, pulling it flat to his chest where his heart is. I latch on to Edward's arm, fearing that Lionel was going to pull Edward into the sunlight.

"Feel that? Hadn't been beatin' for nine years." He states and slowly let's Edward's hand go. Edward stares at Lionel for a long while with uncertainty and what looks like unease, "Seems impossible, don't it?"

Edward doesn't respond at first. I move my hand from his arm to his hand and clasp it. Edward seems to awaken from his frozen state at my touch.

"It is impossible." Edward replies slowly. I could tell he was having a tough time believing the man. I was too. I had been told that a cure could only come from my blood. Had these people found another like me and made this cure already?

"So is walkin' around without a pulse." Lionel challenges swiftly, "Yet here you are."

"How did you do it?" Edward asks in a rush. I could hear hope laced in his voice. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up again as a cold shiver runs down my spine. I look to where Edward had parked his car and watch as the woman appears from behind the tree trunk.

"Edward." I speak up, my eyes glued to the woman and the hunter that stood behind her with a tranquilizer gun. Edward and Lionel both look at the sight. Lionel quickly aims his rifle, which happened to be a crossbow in reality, at the hunter and waited to fire.

"Put the gun down." The hunter ordered as he forced the woman to stop walking towards them.

"Frankie?" Edward suddenly asks and steps forward, letting go of my hand. Frankie lifts up his mask, his pale white skin looking sick against the black suit he wore.

"Put the gun down." Frankie orders again, but Lionel doesn't listen. Edward takes another step forward, seeming to be completely taken aback.

"What're you doing?" Edward asks as Lionel moves up behind him.

"Get away from them Ed." Frankie orders lowly, a growl nearly escaping his lips. Edward steps in between Frankie and Lionel, looking between the two of them and their weapons.

"Put the gun down Frankie."

"Don't make things worse, Ed! Move away from them!"

"Frankie! Put the gun down!"

"This is serious Ed. They could put you away for a long time because of this." Frankie snaps at him, his weapon never lowering. The screeching of wheels disrupts the small intermission of silence. We all look towards the dirt road that led to the tree we were under to see a Humvee rapidly approaching.

The woman Frankie had taken as a hostage whirls around and elbows him in the nose, making him turn around into a large ray of sunlight. Lionel rushes past Edward and knocks the butt of his rifle into Frankie's face, knocking him unconscious.

Lionel and the woman run towards their car when the Humvee begins to fire. I let out a loud scream and throw my arms around my head, falling to my knees to protect myself from the oncoming fire. Edward looks back at me and runs to my side. He grabs me by my upper arm and hoists me onto my feet.

The shots hit Lionel's car, making it unusable and causing him to curse. He spins around and sets off a shot at the Humvee, but it had no effect against the armor plating. Edward drags me towards his car and calls out for the others to follow.

He throws me into the back seat and slams the door shut before climbing into the driver's. Lionel takes the passenger's seat as the woman sits in the back with me. Edward rushes off down the opposite side of the tree to where a main road laid. We hit the road and another Humvee came up behind us, near feet from us.

The Humvee began firing at us and blew a small hole in the rear window. A streak of sunlight burned through, illuminating the inside of the car. The alarm for UV rays went off, over and over again, before the woman beside me covered the hole with her hand. More shots were fired and another hole was blown in the rear window all the way through the windshield. Next the camera on the roof was taken out, leaving Edward blind to the road ahead.

"Move!" Lionel shouts at Edward as he pushes Edward towards his seat and takes the driver's. Lionel takes the wheel, looking through the small hole in the windshield as Edward sunk in his seat, trying to keep out of the rays of sunlight in the car. The car bounces and skids, jerks and swerves as we try to outrun the, now two, Humvees behind us.

"Hold on!" Lionel calls out as he turns a hard right, sending sunlight directly onto Edward's left cheek. Edward gives a loud scream in pain and covers his face with his hands. Without thinking I lurch forward and lean up against his seat so the sun was instead on my back.

"Edward, let me see." I speak up and try to pull Edward's hands away from the burn on his face, "Let me see Ed!"

I pry his hands away and take his chin in my left hand as I held on to the headrest with my right and turn his face so I could examine the burn. I could feel the top of my head brush against the ceiling of the car several times as Lionel drove us into the middle of the woods.

"All right, it's not that bad. It's not that bad, Ed." I rush to say and comfort him. I give a small forced smile and laugh, though it sounded more like a nervous laugh.

"Missy you might want to sit back." Lionel states, causing me and Edward to both look over at him in question.

"What is it?" Edward asks and looks past my arm to Lionel. I move slightly to look out the small hole in the windshield, seeing the broken train tracks ahead.

"Oh my God..." I breathe out and grip the headrest as tightly as I can. I try to brace myself as Lionel pushes the car past the wooden fence in place to keep people from the tracks. I feel my grip slip as we hit the metal tracks, wheels over the sides, and all but fall head first into the dashboard.

"I've got you." I hear Edward whisper lowly as I feel his hands on me, pulling me into his lap because there was no way to push me back the way I had fallen. I look down at Edward once I was settled in his lap, my hands on his shoulders and legs hanging past the side of the seat into Lionel's lap.

"I've got you." He repeats and wraps his right arm around my waist and his left over and around where my knees were. I lay my head on his shoulder and close my eyes, feeling the car rock from left to right dangerously. The car jumps off of the track and onto land once more as an explosion erupts from behind us.

"Everybody okay?" Lionel asks as he continues to drive us out of the way of harm, even though there was no more danger for the moment. I open my eyes and look over at him, my breathing choppy and heavy.

"Not really." I respond with an edge and close my eyes again. My heart hammered against my chest and I could swear it was about to burst. I place a hand to my chest and try to calm myself. I feel Edward's hold on me tighten and slowly I curl my right hand around the back of his neck. I lay my head on his shoulder again and listen to Lionel complain about his car being made into Swiss cheese.

"Do you want me to move to the back?" I ask softly, trying not to let the others hear my words. I feel Edward's cool breath against my ear as he speaks.

"No."


	16. Chapter 16

_~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~_

After a little while I move myself back to the backseat for two reasons. One, I was uncomfortable. I had a kink in my neck and my back hurt. Two, I didn't want to invade Edward's space any longer then I had.

I lean against the door with my eyes closed, letting the gentle rocking of the car soothe me. I feel the car come to a stop and hear the gear shift into park. A door opens and makes me open my eyes to see Lionel step out of the car quietly.

I look out the windows that were no longer shielded because the sun had gone down. I hadn't even realized how long we had been driving for. I study the place Lionel had driven us to, but had no idea where it was. It looked like an old let off to some river with a tunnel across the waters.

I watch the woman beside me lean towards Edward and hear her sigh heavily as though she's about to say something that was difficult. Like she was offering a piece of information she wasn't sure was going to comfort or condemn.

"You did the right thing." She starts and falls silent, seeming to have nothing more that needed to be said. I watch the back of the headrest to Edward's seat. He made no movement. I could only imagine what he was thinking.

"That... was my brother." Edward replies after a moment, taking a quick glance back at her before looking out the windshield again. The woman leans back in her seat and looks over at me for a brief second before opening her door.

"Come on." She instructs softly, guiltily, and steps out of the car. She walks up beside Lionel, who stands by the river's edge, as I open my door and slide out. I open Edward's door and look down at him for a moment before I crouch to his side. I place a hand gently on top of his that rests on his lap and give it a small squeeze.

"Are you going to tell me I did the right thing too?" He asks brokenly and lets his head fall to the right to look down at me. I shake my head slowly and run my thumb over the back of his hand.

"No. My older brother did something similar to me that you did to Frankie. What I wanted to tell you was... there was no way of avoiding this." I speak softly and look down at the dirt beneath my feet.

"What did you feel?" His question was both confusing and stung like needle. I had an idea about what he was asking, but I really hoped he hadn't asked it.

"What?" I ask slowly, afraid of what his reply might be.

"When your brother left you after he had been turned, what did you feel?" Edward looks to me, the look in his eye changed. He wasn't a beaten puppy. He was a snapping dog.

"Abandoned." I reply, almost biting it out. I didn't want to think about Joshua, "I was supposed to be his first choice, but he chose me second. That's exactly how Frankie's feeling right now, Edward. It hurts. A lot and for a long time."

I stop myself before I go into a rant and bite my tongue. I could see that I had made Edward's condition worse, but I understood what Frankie was feeling. I had once been on the other side of the window looking in.

"…have you forgiven Joshua?" Edward's voice was so low I thought I had heard wrong. I lick my lips and think about the question carefully before I answer. I could either lie to him or I could give him the truth. I didn't know which was worse.

"Joshua... was trying to protect me." I state slowly and look up at Edward once more with an expression mixed between guilt, apprehension, and aggravation, "...who were **you** trying to protect?"

Edward slowly looks down at me again and stares sadly into my eyes. I had wanted to lie to him, but I couldn't. Not even to spare him the hurt; the truth. After a moment I give his hand a tug to try and coax him out of the car. He steps out and shuts his door, standing before it a moment to take a deep breath.

We walk up to Lionel and I glance at the woman, questioning her. I didn't know her story at all and her appearance wasn't much of a help. Her expression was one of someone weary, but that was most humans these days.

My eyes wander back to Lionel, who obviously had something he wanted to tell us, and wait quietly. I couldn't tell whether it was going to be good or bad. The air indicated _bad_, but I was sincerely wishing it was going to be good news. I didn't know how much more bad mojo Edward could take.

"Never was good with science like you there Doc. Cars were always my thing." Lionel starts and turns to face us, "Daylight modifications were my specialty... or _used_ to be. My garage was one of the first in town to start doin' them. I had a shop right near your place. Daytime drivin'... nothing beats it."

Lionel gives a smile and looks to the car that sat parked behind us. I follow his gaze and examine the mangled form of the once elegant vehicle. On the roof was a camera that had been shot and I could imagine the monitors inside of the car. I could picture Lionel being a "car guy". It fit.

"No traffic. No cops. Trouble is, if you ain't careful, you can get yourself one hell of a sun burn." Lionel looks to Edward and then at me for a split second as though looking down on me. It made me nervous and uncomfortable. Lionel's gaze floats back to Edward again, "You can only go on so long without blood before it starts messin' with your head. I was drivin' down this stretch of road one day. It'd been weeks since I had somethin' to eat. Crashed my car into this here guard and was flown through the windshield. Caught on fire like a mozel tov cocktail and landed in the water in that tunnel."

Lionel let the hand he had been pointing this out with fall to his side and takes a step closer to us. He gets real close to Edward and stops nearly a foot away. From where I stood I could see the distinct height difference; Edward standing almost three of four inches taller.

"It's amazing how quick your world can change. Ain't it Doc?" Lionel's question was rhetorical and held a sharp accusation behind it that made me narrow my eyes at him. He stares up at Edward hard and Edward can only stare back with a different expression. His eyes weren't quite as set as Lionel's. Edward's were softer, allowing the verbal beating to ensue like a puppy that was tired of fighting.

"We need to recreate this event safely. That's why we need you." The woman spoke up, earning Edward's attention, "You're a blood doctor."

Edward looks down at the ground for a brief moment as he thinks over what he had just been told. I could see several emotions pass over his face, his eye; confusion, aggravation, excitement.

"Are you sure that there wasn't something more than just... catching on fire and being put out within minutes of each other?" I ask slowly, trying to form a complete thought.

"No we're not. We thought if we had a doctor that could look at the blood and see what exactly rid of the virus, then we would know for sure." She explains and look from me to Edward and then back again.

"The sun...?" Edward asks softly as though unsure. It was as though he were merely testing the phrase, the idea, which seemed too impossible yet so simple at the same time. He looks back at Lionel in disbelief, "You're human because of the sun?"

"Yup. Hurt like hell too." Lionel states and slowly walks back toward the driver's side of the car. He climbs inside and shuts the door, starting the engine. The woman gives us a small forced smile and heads to the car, leaving Edward in a daze and I at his side.

"Are you alright?" I ask gently and place a hand on his back tentatively. He doesn't reply to my words or my touch. He just stares out at the tunnel across the river and repeats 'the sun' over and over again softly. I wanted to ask him what that all meant about my blood, but I didn't have the courage. I didn't want to lose that feel of being "needed".

My mind wanders to the idea of the sun being able to _cure _vampirism. It seemed ridiculous to say the least. The sun was the one sure way to kill a vampire. Well, that and a stake through the heart, but how easy was it to overpower a vampire?

"Do you believe him?" Edward asks softly. I almost mistake his voice for the wind. I look away from the night sky and to him, seeing him still staring at the tunnel. I lick my lips and look back at the car behind us, seeing Lionel's dark figure sitting in the driver's seat.

"I'm not sure." I answer honestly and look back at Edward. His eyes met mine, "But I think at the moment we should give him the benefit of the doubt."

Edward nods his head slowly, but doesn't look away. He seems as though he was having trouble processing everything that had happened today. I motion my head towards the car and tell him softly to come on. He and I sit in the back while the other two took the front and drove off into the darkness.

It was far from a quiet car ride. The woman, whom I had come to learn was called Audrey, told Edward and I about what she and Lionel had been doing for the last several months. She began by telling us about them setting up a small compound at an old vineyard and then rambled about going out on searches for surviving humans every so often.

"It's getting harder and harder to find anybody." Audrey explains further as my eyes travel to Edward. I notice the look in his eyes, the yellow color, and follow his gaze to Audrey's exposed neck. I see Audrey about to turn around and nudge him slightly to tell him to get himself in check. Audrey looks from me to Edward and then back again, noticing the look on Edward's face and confirming it with my own look.

"Elvis, stop the car." Audrey orders Lionel, having seen the look in Edward's eyes.

"What?"

"Stop the damn car." Audrey orders him again and Lionel pulls the car to the side of the road. He parks and looks over at Audrey as though she was slightly insane, "When was the last time you drank human blood?"

Lionel turns around fully in his seat to look back at Edward. Edward squirms under their gaze and gives s small nervous laugh. His eyes go back and forth between Lionel and Audrey, catching my gaze once or twice.

"What's the matter?" He asks and looks between the two. When they didn't respond he looks to me and then back at them as though expecting an answer. When he gets none he stutters, "I-I'm fine."

"No you're not." Audrey argues back and pulls out a pocket knife from her brown jacket. She flips it open and opens her right hand, preparing to cut it.

"No, don't!" Edward shouts and grabs hold of her hand with the knife. I look over at him and spot his right ear peek out from behind his hair. It was more of a point than I had remembered. It worried me.

"You need it." Lionel states, all of us knowing he was right. Edward argues back, but I don't hear what he says or what Lionel or Audrey says in return. My mind was wandering to Joshua and how blood crazed he had become when I had simply cut my fingers. It hadn't been a bad cut, but that hadn't mattered. He had been so deprived that a single drop had turned my sweet older brother into a blood thirsty monster.

"Give me the knife." I order softly and outstretch my hand, palm up, waiting for someone to hand it to me. The car falls silent. I order again louder and more stern this time, "Give me the knife."

"What...?" Edward breathes out and then shakes his head while he narrows his eyes. His hold on Audrey's hand loosens enough that she pulls it free.

"You need blood." My voice sounds distant to me. My eyes lock on the blade of the knife to escape the look on Edward's face. Audrey grips the knife tightly in her hand a moment and then twirls it slightly to hand me the handle. I take it and hold it firmly as I look to Audrey, silently asking if this was such a good idea. When her stare neither comforted me nor unsettled me I look away and scoff softly.

"Do we have a cup or something?" I ask gently and she quickly pulls the empty coffee cup from the cup-holder out. She holds it up as I place the blade of the knife to my palm, ready to slice through the sensitive skin.

"Rose, no. Stop!" Edward cuts in, almost scaring me into cutting my hand. I look over at him and wait for what he wants to say. The look in his eyes was of fear and anger. It was fierce and heartbreaking, "I told you before that I'm not going to drink your blood."

"You have to Edward. You don't have a choice." I snap softly. I remember having this same conversation vaguely from my cell back at the Bromley Marks Building. He had been adamant about not drinking my blood then too. He shakes his head, determined that I wouldn't hold my ground. I wasn't going to give in this time, "It's one of _theirs_ or _mine_. Either way, you're drinking someone's blood **now**."

"No." Edward retorts quietly, his eyes pleading with me not to make him do this. I pull the blade away from my palm and hand it back to Audrey. She quickly cuts a long slice in her palm and squeezes her hand shut, draining the drops of blood into the empty coffee cup. She hands me the cup and pulls the scarf from around her neck off to wrap her hand.

"Take it." I order gently and hold the cup out to Edward. He pinches his lips shut and slowly shakes his head, "You refuse to drink my blood. So there, it's not mine. Now drink it."

Edward takes the cup and stares at the liquid for a moment. His eyes move to me, pleading once again not to make him do this. I want nothing more than to tell him he doesn't have to, but he does. Audrey and Lionel were taking us to a human refugee camp. Edward couldn't be around them if he didn't have a clear head.

"If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for me. Please." I beg softly, feeling Audrey's and Lionel's gazes darting from me to Edward. I could care less about what they were thinking. Edward stares at me for a moment and then raises the edge of the cup to his lips. His gaze never falters while he drinks and when he pulls the cup away he closes his eyes, almost savoring the taste.

I look away from him and stare out the window as Lionel begins to drive again. The car is silent, everyone drowning in their own thoughts. I lean my head back against the headrest and watch the fields slip by as we pass. My eyes grow heavy and I struggle to keep them open. I feel something thrown over me and look down through half open eyes to see Edward's suit jacket.

He leans closer and fixes it as I watch quietly, wondering if he knows I'm still awake. He looks somewhat ashamed or maybe it was guilt; a beaten puppy look. He moves back to his original position and looks out the window in thought. I move closer to him and lay my head on him, closing my eyes. I feel his right arm wrap around me to secure me to my spot against him.

I fall asleep within moments.


	17. Chapter 17

~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~

**-Edward's POV-**

The car drives up a long dirt road towards an old farmhouse in the distance. Dead vineyards lay to waste in the fields to the left and right of us. The only light left was the stars and moon that sat overhead. Rosaline was still asleep against me and still wearing my suit jacket. Her head bobs with the movements of the car, hair falling to cover her face. Her right hand gripping tightly to my shirt with her nails digging into the fabric's core.

I hold her tightly to me with both arms. My hands touch exposed, creamy flesh. She was so soft, so warm and her heart...

_… ba-bump... ba-bump... ba-bump..._

Her heart was beating so strong. It soothed me like a lullaby. It reminded me a world I once belonged to and a world I would never be part of again; her world. It was a world full of warmth, of light, of love. A world where you didn't have to cower in the darkness, afraid of what the beast lying in wait within might do should it be freed; even for a moment.

My longing to be a part of that world again had died years ago, long after I had been turned, and then _she_ showed up; a woman with radiant blonde hair and the most curious looking blue eyes. No. Not a woman. She had been a child; eighteen. She hadn't even graduated high school yet. She was a child when Bromley had sent his headhunters to capture her. A child when she had been dragged into the Bromley Marks' building. A child when I had met her for the first time.

Only eighteen... a year earlier Bromley had killed her parents. Three years earlier he had turned her brother. Four years earlier and she had had a family that loved her. Eighteen... she had her whole life ahead of her... at least she would have if none of the chaos had ever happened. She would have graduated high school and gone to college. Perhaps met her future husband there, graduate, get married, have kids and live happily ever after. Eighteen... even now I still find it hard to believe.

She was still a girl to me, despite her every protest to make it clear she wasn't. She was twenty. I was... well, I was much older than her. It was hard not seeing the girl within the woman. Every time I looked into her eyes I saw a small girl of thirteen watching her older brother change into a beast that would forever have to cower in the darkness of the night. That girl with the moonlight eyes had done something to me. _She_ had changed me. One look, one word and that had been it. That was all it had taken for our lives to be irreversibly intertwined. Now this **woman**, the one who was asleep against me, holding on for dear life... she was the one who held me together. She kept my world, which was threatening to burst into flames, a float.

I nestle my nose into Rosaline's hair. I could still smell my cologne as I took a deep breath. I could also smell her. It was light and feminine. Flowers or maybe it was something else entirely that made her smell so sweet. Whatever it is I love it. I love the way she smells, the way she feels against my cold, tired bones. I love the way she makes **me** feel. I almost feel... human. Every time I'm around her, thinking about her I feel like I once did when my heart still beat.

Rosaline moves in her sleep and whispers my name. A smile comes to my lips instinctively. I look towards the front seat to see if the others had heard her. They hadn't and that made me smile even more. It had been for me alone; a secret for only my ears to hear. I look down at her and see bits of her face behind her veil of golden waves. Her rosy lips were parted slightly and her warm breath tickle the flesh on my chest as it brushes past.

Were I human, my heart would have beat out of my chest. My veins would have exploded, blood raced to my face, hands and feet sweat. But I wasn't. My heart does not beat. My blood race does not race. My hands and feet do not sweat with nervousness and anticipation.

But I was a vampire and she did other things to me that no other could. She drove my senses wild. At the start it had been so hard to be so close to her, smelling that elusive fragrance that was her own. Now I could inhale it deeply as though it were a drug and I the addict who couldn't get enough. To look at her had been near painful. Her innocence and beauty, inside and out, was too much for this dark, cruel world that it didn't seem fair. Nothing seemed fair when it came to her. Her voice took me to another world, a place where light didn't burn to stand in and blood wasn't a currency. Her touch drove me manic. Even now her supple and smooth flesh felt like liquid silk dripping through his fingers. Her taste...

She had always been so willing to give her blood to my thirst. Even before I had begun to starve she offered it freely. She had told me she wanted to live, to **really** live, but that was a lie. She didn't care about her life. She wanted me to kill her; for anyone to kill her. I realized a long time ago that she understood what was happening to us; the starvation, deprivation, the effects. She understood that soon we would be forced to farm every last human till they were extinct and then we would be extinct ourselves. She also understood me. I had almost accepted her offer of blood sacrifice once, had almost taken her wrist and gorged myself on her thick, iron life-force. I wanted to. I wanted her; her blood; her body.

Even now I want to push her into the seat of the car and rip off her baggy clothing. I want to tangle my cold fingers in her warm, silken hair and grip it so tight that I make her groan. I want to touch her in places no one has ever touched her. I want to kiss her so hard I bruise her perfect rosy lips. Then, when I am so deep within her warmth, drowning in the pleasure, and she is on the brink of orgasm, I want to drive my fangs into the supple flesh, where neck meets shoulder, and drink the safety away, the life, she had offered me so many times before... and she would let me without a fight.

That thought stopped me in my tracks. She would let me drink her dry if that was what I wanted; if that was what I needed. She would let me do whatever I wanted to her and that frightens me.

I swallow hard and try to forget the ideas, the explicit imagery flashing in my head. I could hear her heart beat, her blood rushing through her veins beneath her creamy skin. I close my eyes and turn my head into her hair. I take a deep breath and focus on identifying the scent that drove me mad. Sweet pea? Cherry blossom? Cocoa? Vanilla? I couldn't get a grasp on it, but that was fine. I only needed a distraction.

"Here we are." Audrey announces with a smile. I open my eyes and look out the windshield. The lights were on in the house and there were people walking around outside. Several of them were loading up an RV while others were simply hanging around. Again, if my heart could beat, than it would sound like a drum.

"Rose." I call out gently and shake her. "Rose, wake up."

She stirs and sits up straight with wide eyes that tell me she had been deep in sleep. She looks around the inside of the car a moment and then looks out the windshield.

"Where are we?" She asks and takes a deep breath, pushing my jacket from her shoulders. I take it and fold it over an arm.

"The country." Lionel replies and stops the car. Rose looks to me, still half asleep and smiles.

"You look better." She begins and lets out a long yawn. "See? Everyone could do with a little more blood."

I think she was trying to be funny, but I didn't laugh. I didn't see the humor in it. I had been so sure she was going to cut her hand earlier. I had been so worried I was going to have to drink her blood. I would rather die. Actually die, that is, before I drank from her.

"Come on." Audrey pipes up and opens her door. She and Lionel step out of the car, leaving Rosaline and myself. Rosaline looks out the windshield and watches Audrey and Lionel walk away from the car.

"Shall we?" She asks and looks back at me. I rub my hands on my pants and nod my head. She narrows her eyes at me and then opens her door, climbing out. I follow after her and pull out my cigarettes from my pocket. I light one up instantly and take a long drag from it.

"Jarvis, these are Rose and Ed." Audrey's voice caught my attention and pulled my gaze to her. Standing beside her was a tall man in a baseball cap and vest. Rosaline gives a small wave and smiles while I nod my head once.

"Well ain't this nothin." Jarvis begins and places his hands on his hips while he stares at me. He gives a small laugh and a shake of his head. "Usually when there's a vampire around I'm the one shittin' bricks. You better be worth the risk man."

Rosaline gives a small laugh from beside me. I look at her from the corner of my eyes and take another drag from the cancer stick in my hand.

"Jarvis has made contact with the largest human group we've found in a while." Audrey announces and looks back to Jarvis as though for confirmation.

"I never thought there were still so many of us left." The comment sat funny in the air. I look down at Rosaline, who had spoken, then take another long drag of my cigarette. It was the _us_ part that sat wrong. It didn't include me.

"I felt the same way at first. It's a real eye opener." Audrey gives a small smile and looks back at Jarvis.

"Ed, are you alright?" Rosaline whispers to me and lays her head against my arm. I nod my head and pull the cigarette from my lips, blowing thick white smoke into the cool night air. Rosaline gives a laugh and pats my arm. "I won't let them stake you. Promise."

She gives a small laugh and removes her head before looking up at me.

"I feel so much better." I give a sarcastic huff of a laugh and take another drag of my cigarette. Suddenly the cigarette is gone from my hand. I look to Rosaline and watch as she stomps the cancer stick out beneath her new shoes.

"I really hate smoke." She mumbles and then walks over to Lionel. I watch her go and then reach into my pocket again for another cigarette. I find nothing except silken fabric and loose threads.

"Oh Eddie!" I hear Rosaline sing song and freeze. I look over at her and see her waving my cigarette box in her hand like she had won a prize. She grins from ear to ear and then quickly chucks my nervous addiction as far as she can into the darkness behind her. I stand there quietly, just staring at her with a stern gaze. She laughs as well as several others. Lionel places a hand on her back to lead her towards the open door to the house and Rosaline waves to me as she follows him. I shake my head after a moment and then shove my hands deep in my pockets.

I look around the grounds and then out into the darkness. I imagined what might be out there; human hunters, Frankie. Both were possible and likely. Somehow I didn't feel so bad about what had happened earlier in the park.

_"Joshua was trying to protect me... who were **you** trying to protect?"_

"The same person..." I whisper under my breath and then sigh. I look behind me at the humans that were still loading up several cars and then turn my gaze to the stars in the sky. I had never actually bothered to look up at night. It reminded me too much of what I was; confined to the darkness.

"Edward?" The voice startles me and forces me to turn around. Rosaline stands in the path to the house, the light from inside illuminating her in a way that caused me to imagine her standing in the sun's rays at dawn. She cocks her head to the left slightly and gives me a small smile.

"Are you coming?" She asks gently. I nod once.

**I will follow you into the sunlight if I have to... just to be close to you...**

I look back at the stars again and then turn my back to the darkness. I walk towards her with my hands still deep in my pockets until Rosaline grabs my wrists.

"Do you need me to hold your hand?" Rosaline asks in a playful manner as she takes my right hand in hers and looks up at me. She was expecting some kind of snide remark that an old man might make to someone being a wise ass. Instead I smile and hold her hand tighter, the warmth soothing me. She looks down at our hands and smiles, genuinely and heartfelt.

"I will protect you from the nasty humans." Rosaline says softly with a small laugh and looks back up at me. I couldn't register the emotion swirling in her eyes. She looks between my eyes and for a moment her smile falters. "I promise Edward."

She looks down at the ground and then gives my hand a tug. I'm left to wonder about what she had been thinking, what she had been feeling, just a moment ago.

I hadn't liked the look. Not one bit.

I wonder why she keeps saying, "I'll protect you from the humans." I was a vampire; a machine built to destroy.

And then it hits me...

"Rose..." Her name leaves my lips before I can filter my thoughts. I stop dead in my tracks and her hands slips from mine gracefully. She turns around, looking down for a hand that was supposed to be in hers, and then looks to me in question.

She looks so frail, so small... like a child searching for something; someone. It had taken me this long to see it. In the two years I had known her I had been blind to what was right in front of me.

_"I'll protect you..."_

_"I thought it would solve everything..."_

_"I want to live... really live..."_

It wasn't** I** who needed_her _protection. It was **she** who needed _mine_. She was all alone in a world shrouded in darkness and monsters. She couldn't join us. She could only run and hide.

"Everything will be alright, Rose." I say gently and take a step forward. She continues to stare at me. Her breathing was shallow and slow like someone backed into a corner. I take another step closer and pull her into my arms, cradling her head to my shoulder. I rest my lips in her hair and breath in her scent; sweet pea. I smile and sigh into her hair, feeling her stiff and unmoving. I open my eyes and look up at the stars. "I'll protect you from the darkness."


End file.
